The Inferno Rises
by dispatcher652
Summary: Ric is shot just when he makes the decision to try and make things right with Alexis. Will he be able to make it right with her or will outside influences make it difficult for them. Also, who or what is the Inferno? Ric/Alexis Lucky/OC Jason/Elizabeth
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey Everyone! I had this story in my head for a long time about Ric and Alexis but never put anything down until now. I finally got tired of it floating around in my head so I wrote it out. I never liked the fact that GH broke Ric and Alexis up. I always liked them together. So, I felt like it was my job to give them a better story line and somewhere down the line a happy ending. Now if there are any errors in some of the background I apologize. I haven't watched GH in a longtime so some of the details are a bit fuzzy. Also, I didn't follow the current story line. I took some bits and pieces from some of my favorite story lines and used them. There will also be some old characters from way back poping up soon. So look out for them in coming chapters. Ok, that's it. Let me know what you think and Happy Reading!!!**

**I do not own General Hospital or it's charaters. **

Ric Lansing was sitting in his comfy leather chair looking out of his high rise office window at the city of Port Charles. He got up from his seat and moved closer to the window. He looked out at the city and couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the city looked from so high up. The bright lights made the city sparkle like a jewel. It truly was a wonderful site to see but Ric knew better. He knew that underneath all this beauty lies a city whose soul was up for grabs by everything that was ugly about the world.

Besides the good citizens of Port Charles who wanted nothing more than to come home from work, raise a couple of kids, and have a normal life were the worst of the worst. This city was a heaven, a beacon to murders, thieves, drug dealers, and mobsters. Ric always thought the sign to Port Charles should have read "Welcome to Port Charles. Please enjoy your stay and watch your back because there is a very good chance that you could be kidnapped, raped, killed, thrown off a balcony, poisoned,stabbed,develop a deadly disease,find out you have a crazy twin sibling that will try and kill you and then steal your identity, find out that you are related to someone here because you parents had an affair over 20 years, get into a car accident then go into a coma and not remember your loved one,then fall in love with someone else then remember who you loved before just before you get married. There are more things that can happen but you'd be standing here all day reading this sign. Again,Welcome to Port Charles and Have a nice day."

Ric chuckled at that thought. He loved and hated the day he first saw the sign to Port Charles. He had no idea how much his life would change when he passed that Welcome sign.

Ric moved from the window no longer happy with the view in front of him. He moved over to the bar and poured himself a drink. It was Brandy that his father, if he could even call him that, had sent him when he graduated law school. As Ric took a sip he closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm smooth feel of the Brandy going down his throat. He marveled at the taste of it. It shouldn't surprise him that it was some of the best Brandy he had ever tasted. His dad like two things. Young cheap girls and old expensive Brandy.

Ric took another sip then moved back over to his desk. The desk of the District Attorney of Port Charles. His dream job. He placed his glass on his desk and picked up the name plate that faced outward for all visitors to see. Ric looked at the plate and read it out loud.

"Richard Lansing. District Attorney for the City of Port Charles"he said.

He smiled at the gold name plate then placed it back on his desk. His desk. He liked the sound of that or at least he should have liked the sound of that. Today was one of those days he didn't like the sound of his title. He knew why. It was because he didn't earn it. It wasn't his. It was Alexis' title. He got it by default. He only got the job because Alexis got sick and since he had the job before he was the perfect one to take her place. Except it wasn't a perfect fit. It was completely wrong. Just like everything else in his life. So many things had been going wrong since he agreed to take this job back. Looking back now he knew he should have said no but he loved titles. Titles made his world go round. They got his father to notice him. Even if it was only to say "Good job son. The only way you could get the job back was to take it from a sick women. Way to go Richard. Way to go."

Ric took another sip of his Brandy and closed his eyes. He tried not to think. All he wanted to do was just enjoy the silence of his office. No phones ringing, no secretary coming in with more cases to be heard, no Mayor Floyd coming to ask when he was going to stop Sonny and the other crime bosses, no nothing. Just enjoy the silence. It should have been an easy thing to do but that too betrayed him because now the silence was deafening. The quiet allowed many of the thoughts he had trying to keep out to slowly creep in and penetrate the shield he had been putting up.

Ric took one more sip of his Brandy then got back up and started to pace around the room. His mind was racing with questions he didn't want to answer. Before he knew it he was back at the window look at the city again. Each light he thought was a question that had been looming on his mind lately. Ric put his head against the window and let the questions roam freely in his mind.

He wanted to know if the changes he was making were for the best? Did he like the direction his life was taking? Did he like the person he was quickly becoming? Should he continue down this destructive path he was on and if he did, was he ready to face the consequences that came with it? There were so many more questions still on his mind that they began to physical weigh him down.

Ric began to slide his body down the side of the window. He sat down on the floor facing his body sideways so he could still look at the city. His head was still up against the window and he enjoyed the coolness of the glass against his face. The cool feel of the glass was helping his mind seek out a way of the chaos it created. He thought about the questions his mind posed to him. Did he like the directions his life was taking? Was he really making the best changes for his life? Did he like the person has becoming? Was he ready for the consequences of the destructive path he was on?

Ric thought long and hard about those questions and the truth was he didn't know. He didn't have the answer. He wished he did but he didn't. That realization made him quietly laugh. How was he supposed to make decision for the citizens of Port Charles when he couldn't even make them for himself?

Ric hit the glass window with the palm of his hand. He was angry now. Angry at Alexis for getting sick. Angry at his father for being such a bastard. Angry at Sonny for making his life as District Attorney a living hell. Most of all, Rick was angry at himself. Angry for allowing things in his life to get to this point.

He knew that something was wrong with Alexis but he didn't listen to his instincts. He blindly believed her when she said she was ok. Then out of no where she says she has cancer and that it was bad. And what did he do when things got worse with the cancer? He let Alexis push him into the arms of his step-daughter Sam. The thought of that night with Sam made him violently ill.

Ric hurried over to his garbage can and vomited into it. When he was done he crawled back the window. He once again placed his head against the window and took solace in the cool feel of the glass. That choice to sleep with Sam cost him his wife, his step-daughter Kristina, and his baby girl, Molly. His family. The family he worked so hard for. The normal life he always wanted. He knew he should have been stronger and resisted the push he felt Alexis was forcing him towards but he chose to be weak. He knew what the consequences would be if he slept with Sam and he still chose the destructive path. But that's what he always did. His whole life he chose to hurt not only himself but the ones he said he loved. Sonny was a good example of that.

His brother, his other half. Instead of trying to embrace his brother Ric blamed Sonny for everything that went wrong in his life. From his mother dying, to his father hating him, to not being able to save his wife and child from the dangers that they constantly had to face because of Sonny. And the one time Sonny decided to give his trust to Ric what did he do? He betrayed Sonny and tried to take over his business. Another choice that almost cost him his life. Then there were other stupid choices. Like hurting Elizabeth and Carly. Besides Alexis, Elizabeth was the only other person that Ric ever loved and he broke her heart after she miscarried. Then what was his next brillant plan to get back with Elizabeth, kidnapping Carly to take her baby from her so he and Elizabeth could be a family again. What a stupid plan that was he thought. The memory of what he did to Carly gave Ric a cold chill down his spine. He almost made Carly lose her baby. Everytime he saw Morgan he felt guilty. He hope that Morgan never found out that his uncle came close to making sure he was never brought in the world.

Ric finally let the weight of those choices and consequence reach his heart and when they did they crushed it. The flood of emotions that his heart held, all the love,all the hate, all the fear, and what ever else he had been afraid of spilled out from his eyes in the form of tears. He was so over whelmed by everything.

Ric didn't even try to stop the tears or wipe them way. He just let them fall. When he was done and couldn't produce another tear even if he wanted to, those questions swirled around his head again. This time he had an answer for those questions. The answer was NO.

No, he didn't like the person he was becoming. No, he didn't like the direction his life was taking. And no, he didn't like the destructive path he was on and the consequences that came with his choices.

It felt good Ric thought to finally say to himself that he didn't like the way his life was going. Now another question swirled in his head. How was he going to making things right? Not just for the people he loved but also for himself.

Ric had no clue. Making things right was something Ric was not very good at.

Ric looked to the night sky and hoped that maybe it held the answer. It didn't. Just the stars. He felt like each star in the sky represented all the problems in his life and just like the night sky there were to many to count.

Ric got up from the window no longer happy with the view. He looked at his watch and saw that it was very late. Time to go home he thought. Just not the home he wanted to go to. Ric had been renting a suite at the Metro Court for sometime but, living in a hotel wasn't really as nice as living in a home. Although, having room service twenty four seven does have it's perks he thought. Ric decided to move out of the Metro Court when he saw there was a house for rent that was just outside the city limits. It was a nice space. A two story three bedroom home that came furnished. The only room he had to make up was Molly's room and although Alexis said it wasn't girly enough, Molly seemed to like it. The first time he brought Molly in the room she cooed for him and that let him know he did a good job.

Ric walked over to his desk and grabbed his house and car keys off it. He turned off the remaining lights in his office and closed the door. He took the elevator down to the garage and listened to the awful muzak that was playing. When the doors opened he practically ran out the elevator trying to get away from the muzak version of Celine Dion's "All by myself".

Ric started walking over to his parking spot that was marked City Official. District Attorney parking. Sitting waiting for him was the only thing besides his daughter Molly that brought a smile to his face these days. It was his 2009 CLK 550 Cabriolet Mercedes Benz Convertible. It was Carpi Blue in color and had a hard top. The car had everything Ric wanted. Black and Cappuccino color leather interior, Black Ash wood trim,Key less entry, ventilated front seats, DVD navigation with a hands free communication system, illuminated door sills, a custom made baby seat for Molly and a toddler seat for Kristina. Plus a whole other host of bells and whistles that made Ric's heart skip a beat. His car looked better than Mayor Floyd's which was a model from two years ago. Every time the Mayor saw Ric's car he would always give it a nice long jealous look that made Ric smirk. This was a status symbol Ric would never part with.

As Ric got closer to his beloved car he thought he heard someone behind him. He turned around and saw no one there. Must be my imagination he thought. No one was supposed to be in the building he thought. Ric was almost to his car when heard the noise again. He called out to whoever it was.

"Is anyone there?" Ric called. He still got no answer. Not good he thought.

Ric sped up the walk to his car and took out the remote for the key less entry. Before he made it to his car he heard a gunshot. Ric felt something like a bee sting at first then the pain increased. He felt like something was ripping it's way through him. He looked and touched the area where he felt the pain. When he brought his hand back up he saw it was covered in blood.

Ric went to reach for his cell phone to call for help when another shot rang out. This time the bullet hit his leg and he went down. Ric didn't know how but he somehow managed to hold on to his cell phone. Ric quickly dialed 911 and heard the dispatcher come on the line.

"This..is...DA Lansing...city parking...been shot.. send help...." Ric managed to get out.

As Ric was doubled over in pain he never heard the dispatcher say that police and ambulance were on the way because he dropped the phone out of his hand. He then heard someone walking towards him. Ric tried to crawl away but the pain was too great. He called out for help but no one came. Where the hell is that security guard Ric thought?

The gunman walked over to Ric and kicked the cell phone away from him. Ric tried in vain to move towards the cell phone but the gunman followed Ric towards the cell phone and laughed as he watched Ric crawling like the snake he knew Ric was. The gunman toyed with Ric. Every time Ric would get closer to his cell phone the gunman would kick the phone a little bit farther out of Ric's reach.

"This is what I like to see Lansing. You on your belly like the low life snake you are. Think you're going to get to that cell phone? I don't think so." the gunman said.

Ric watched in horror as the gunman smashed the cell phone with his foot and kicked it underneath a car, literally smashing all Ric's hopes of getting out of this alive.

The gunman then bent down in front of Ric. He was wearing all black and had a black ski mask on to hide his face.

"Now we are all alone. Just you, me, and fate. I know I don't have that much time since you dialed 911. The police will be here any minute and being caught was not in my game plan. Plus, I don't look good in prison blues. Oh, where are my manners? You see I know you but you don't know me. And since knowing my real name is out of the question, I shall have to think of name. One that you won't ever forget. I have it. Death. You will know me as Death." the gunman said.

Ric tried to place the voice but couldn't. He had a hard time concentrating through the pain. All Ric could see was the man's green eyes. Eyes that were filled with anger and one more thing. Ric couldn't believe the other emotion he was seeing in the gunman's eyes. He saw that he was enjoying this. The guy was actually enjoying the torture he was inflicting on him. Ric was just about to pass out from the pain when he felt Death slap his face.

"Tut-tut." Death said wagging a warning finger at Ric. "It's impolite to fall asleep when someone's talking to you. Looks like you need to be punished Richard. A little reminder of who's in charger here." Death said.

Ric watched as Death stood up and before he could say anything he was shot twice. One bullet went in Ric's other leg while the second bullet went into his shoulder. Death laughed when he heard Ric screaming for him to stop. Death bent back down towards Ric face.

"Got your attention again?" Death asked.

Ric nodded yes.

"Good boy. Now please don't make me waste anymore bullets Richard. They do cost a lot now a days and I don't want to waist any of the **exuberant** amount of money I was paid to kill you buying more. Now before I kill you Richard, I have a message to pass on from my generous benefactors. They wanted me to tell you that your services as District Attorney to the City of Port Charles are no longer required. You have gotten to close to their business dealings and they are tired of your interference. So I'm here to terminate your employment with the city. Permanently." Death said.

Ric closed his eyes. This isn't how it was supposed to end he thought. How was he going to make things right with is family if he was dead? Then Ric did something he hadn't done in years. He prayed.

"You know something Richard, you are truly pathetic. I mean I can't believe that someone actually found you to be a real threat to them." Death said hitting Ric's face hard with the gun. Death watched as Ric cried out in more pain from the hit and enjoyed seeing the blood slowly trickle out of Ric's mouth.

"God, please. Help me." Ric said out loud.

"There it is! That's what I was waiting to hear." Death said clapping his hands. " A little begging before your die. You have no idea how much you made my day Richard. Ok, no more distractions. This is where we part company. So, I will bid you a fond fair well Richard." Death said.

Ric heard the gun cock and knew it was the end. I guess God was too busy to save this sinner Ric thought. He concentrated on the last happy time he had with his family. They were at the beach just enjoying each other. Being the family he always wanted.

Just as the Death was about to pull the trigger he heard police sirens and a number of people running in their direction. Ric heard Death curse loudly.

"Well, looks like God heard your prayers and granted you a reprieve. How ironic that shooting you those two times actually saved your pathetic life and gave the police enough time to get here and save you. Life is just funny that way huh?" Death quipped.

A black car came out of nowhere at a high rate towards the Death and stopped right in front of him.

"Looks like my ride is here. Please don't feel like you have to get up on my account." Death said as he opened the car door then stepped inside. Just before the car was about to pull off the passenger side window rolled down and Ric could see Death looking at him.

"We'll be see each other again DA Lansing...real soon." Death said.

"Hold it right there! Police!" someone shouted.

TTFN Richard. Lets get out of here driver." Death said then closed his window.

The black car sped off before the officer could get a shot off.

-TBC-


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter two. Thanks to all who are reading the story so far and please feel free to let me know how you like it or if there are some changes that need to me made. Happy Reading!!!**

**I do not own General Hospitals or its characters.**

Ric felt like he didn't have much longer to go. He heard someone calling his name and tried to answer them but couldn't. It hurt to much to talk or breathe. He suddenly felt cold and sleepy again. Ric was about to close his eyes when someone came into his view. They were fuzzy at first so he focused harder. It was Lucky Spencer. He heard Lucky calling the ambulance in on his radio and letting the other officers know to look out for a black car that was speeding away from the area. Ric tried to form words but it was coming out all garbled.

Lucky looked down at Ric and could see he had been shot several times and hit in the face hard. Lucky quickly took off his shirt and tried to stop the bleeding. But from where he thought? Ric was bleeding bad from four gun shot wounds. He put his shirt on Ric's belly wound first. That looked like the worst one for now. Lucky heard another person running his way and called out to them.

"Hey! We are down here! Stay with me Lansing!" Lucky said.

Ric nodded his head but even that took effort.

"Partner, where are you?" Rodriguez called.

"Down here! Come on! Get those paramedics down here!" Lucky yelled.

Lucky took a look at his shirt and saw that it was filling up with blood.

"Just hold on Ric. They are coming." Lucky said trying to reassure Ric.

Rodriguez and the paramedics finally came around the corner and started heading directly for Lucky and Ric.

"There here Ric. Just hold on. Stay alive so we can get the bastard that shot you." Lucky said.

Just before Lucky moved out of the way of the paramedics Ric used the last of his strength to grab Lucky's hand. He pulled Lucky closer so he could hear Ric.

"A..lex..is" Ric gasped out.

"You want me to call her?" Lucky asked.

Ric shook his head.

"I will." Lucky said.

"Detective you need to move." one of the paramedics said.

Lucky moved out of the way letting the paramedics do their job. He reached in his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. He started to dial Mac's cell phone number when he noticed that his fingers were still covered in Ric's blood. Rodriguez walked up to Lucky with a towel in his hand and gave it to Lucky.

"Thanks man." Lucky said while wiping the blood off his hands.

"No problem man. Well, I guess it was just a matter of time before someone tried to take Lansing out. I'm just surprised it took this long." Rodriguez said.

Lucky looked at his partner with a "I can't believe you just said that out loud look." To which Rodriguez just shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever. I'm just say'n what you and everyone else was thinking. Admit it." Rodriguez said.

Lucky shook his head at his partner. He knew Rodriguez was right, he just wasn't going to admit it out loud.

"Can we get back to police work please? Now do you want to call Mac or do I have to?" Lucky asked.

"No, that honor is all yours. I have police work to attend to remember. I'll have dispatch call for the Evidence Tech's to come out to the crime scene. I think we are going to need more people to keep this crime scene secure." Rodriguez said.

"Right. I think the paramedics are ready to leave. I'll get an update on Lansing and then call Mac." Lucky said.

Lucky walked back over to the paramedics as they were loading Ric into the rig. He looked at Ric with all the wires and leads attached to him and Lucky's heart actually went to Ric. Lucky stopped one of the medics before they closed the door to the back.

"How's he doing? He gonna make it?" Lucky asked.

"I don't know Detective. It could go either way. We're going to be flying to the ER. But if I were you. I'd make sure a priest were there just in case." he said.

Lucky was about to move out of the way when he heard a noise from coming from back. The noise was coming from Ric's heart monitor. Lucky knew that sound all too well. He knew Ric's heart had stopped.

"He's crashing! We need to get to the hospital now! Shut the rig doors and let's get doing! Gimme one cc of epi!" the medic in the back yelled as the rig doors closed.

"Gotta go Detective." the medic said as he ran by Lucky.

"Better call Mac." Lucky said out loud to himself.

Lucky found Mac's number on his speed dial and called it. He moved away from the blaring sirens of the ambulance. Mac answered the phone just as the ambulance started on it's way.

"Scorpio." Mac said sleepily.

"It's Spencer. Sorry to wake you Commissioner." Lucky said.

"Lucky? Spencer, this had better be good. " Mac said.

"Lansing's been shot." Lucky said.

That got Mac's attention right away and he was suddenly awake.

"Say that again?" Mac said.

"You heard me right sir. Lansing's been shot. From what I could tell at least four times." Lucky said.

"I was wondering when that was going to happen." Mac said.

Lucky laughed softly to himself. He couldn't believe Mac said the same thing as Rodriguez.

"Gimme the short version." Mac said.

"All we know so far is that Lansing called 911 saying he had been shot and that he was in the parking garage. Dispatch gave out the call to the marked units about the shooting. Rodriguez and I were doing some paperwork in the station when he we heard the call come out. We knew we were close by so we had dispatch add us to the call. When we got on scene we heard two shots. I informed dispatch that shots were fired and Rodriguez and I headed in. We split up once we entered the building. He secured the entrance while checked the parking garage. I think I might have saved Lansing by yelling police." Lucky said.

"Did you see anything?" Mac asked.

"Not much. Just a black car that sped away like a bat outta hell. It looked liked a newer model car. Maybe a Town car or something similar. I really didn't get a good look at it." Lucky said.

"And Lansing? Is he going to make it?" Mac asked.

"I asked the medics before they left. They said it was touch and go but.."Lucky almost couldn't finish his sentence.

"But what Lucky?"Mac asked.

"He was crashing before he left. They were trying to get him back before they left the parking garage." Lucky said.

"Damn. Look, I want you to get down to the hospital and get a status report on Lansing. Have Rodriguez call in whatever resources you two need. I'll be down there in twenty minutes. Call me if anything changes before I get to the hospital." Mac said.

"Listen Mac, Lansing asked me to take care of something for him." Lucky said.

"What is it?" Mac said.

"Well.. he..he.."

"Spit it out Spencer."Mac said wishing Lucky would just get to the point.

"He wanted me to call Alexis. I said I would but I know she is going through her own troubles now. What should I do?"Lucky asked.

Mac was quiet for a second. He knew that it wouldn't be an easy call for Lucky to make. Mac knew full well that Alexis was still trying to finish off her chemotherapy and that it was taking alot out of her but she was Ric's next of kin. Their divorce hadn't officially gone through yet. There was no choice but to call her.

"I'll call her. Get to the hospital." Mac said.

"Thanks Mac. I'll see you at the hospital." Lucky said then hung up the phone.

Lucky walked over to Rodriguez who was still on the phone with dispatch.

"Yeah, get me some on coming midnight shift units down here to secure the crime scene. Just tell them to look for me and I'll give them their assignments. Thanks." Rodriguez said then hung up his phone when he saw Lucky coming towards him.

"So Mac knows?" Rodriguez asked.

"Yeah, he wants me to go down to the hospital and get Lansing's status. I'm headed there right now." Lucky said.

"Like that?" Rodriguez said pointing to Lucky.

Lucky didn't understand until he looked down and that's when he remembered he had no shirt on.

"I mean you can go like that if you want to but it's not very professional for a detective to show up at the hospital looking like he just came out of a beefcake calendar. I'm just say'n." Rodriguez laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, ha,ha. I'll stop by the station and pick up a PCPD shirt then head over to the hospital. You got this?" Lucky said.

"We're cool. You better get going." Rodriguez said.

"Right, see you at the station later." Lucky said then headed towards the elevator to take him to the lobby.

While waiting for the elevator Lucky pulled out his cell phone to make one more call. He quickly found the number he needed and dialed it.

"Hey it's me. I need you to wake up." Lucky said.

On the other end of the phone was Lucky's brother Nikolas.

"Lucky, you all right? Is everything ok? Are you hurt? Are Elizabeth and the kids ok?" Nikolas asked. It wasn't like Lucky to call so late unless something bad had happened so now Nikolas was on alert.

"Whoa..slow down Nikolas. I'm fine. Elizabeth is fine she is at work and the boys are also fine. They are with her grandmother tonight. Look the reason why I called is, it's about Alexis. I think she is going to need you tonight." Lucky said as he got in the elevator.

"What's going on Lucky? Why would Alexis need me?" Nikolas asked.

"It's Ric. He's been shot. I'm not sure he is going to make it and he asked for Alexis. Mac is calling her right now." Lucky said while he pressed L for the Lobby.

It all became clear to Nikolas now. He knew that Alexis might need some moral support.

"I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can. I'll have Alfred prepare the launch so I can leave. Thanks for letting me know Lucky." Nikolas said.

"No problem. See you there." Lucky said then hung up.

Lucky looked at his phone and was about to call Elizabeth but decided not to. He knew that she probably already knew what was going on since she was working tonight. No need to bother her with something she would already know about. Lucky put his cell phone back in his pocket then tried to concentrate on the car he saw leaving but he couldn't because of the stupid muzak that was playing. He was about two seconds away from taking his gun out and shooting the speaker when he was saved by the elevator doors opening to the lobby.

As Lucky walked to his car he was greeted by cat calls of the uniformed officers that were now in the lobby. He did some flexes for them which earned more shouts and whistles. Lucky laughed and gave them a mock salute then headed to his car.

Lucky started his car then looked at his hands again that still had some of Ric's blood on it.

"This is case is going to get messy." Lucky said to himself then headed towards the PCPD for new shirt.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Mac was on way to the hospital when he pulled out his cell phone. He hoped he still had Alexis' number in his phone. There is it he said to himself. The phone rang for a long time then finally someone picked it up.

"This had better be good." Alexis said angrily.

Although she sounded upset about getting woken up. Alexis was actually very happy to be woken up from the awful dream she was having about Ric of all people. She kept dreaming that he was hurt and that she was powerless to help him. What disturbed her most was seeing Ric die in her arms over and over again.

"Hello Alexis, it's Mac." Mac said.

"Well this is a surprise. It's good to hear your voice Mac. Although, it would be even better to hear your voice in the morning. Say after breakfast." Alexis said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Still feisty as ever huh?" Mac said.

"Yes. The cancer hasn't stolen that from me yet. Just my strength, my hair, and my patience. So spill it Mac. Why are you calling me so late? And if it's a law question just remember I no longer have that job. It belongs to my soon to be ex." Alexis said.

"Look Alexis, I'm not sure how to say this." Mac said.

"Say it quickly Mac. I'm starting to get tired and I have a long day tomorrow." Alexis said.

"There has been a shooting. Ric's been shot. I'm on my way to the hospital now." Mac said.

Alexis couldn't believe what she just heard. The news took the air right out of her lungs. She felt like her vocal cords had been paralyzed. She couldn't say anything.

Mac started to get concerned when he no longer heard Alexis on the other end.

"Alexis? You there? Hello?" Mac asked.

Alexis somehow managed to make a sound to answer Mac's frantic calls to her.

"I'm here Mac. Sorry about that. I just wasn't expecting to hear that. So, what do you want from me?" Alexis said flatly.

Mac was taken back by how cold Alexis sounded. He knew that Ric had hurt her but the guy might die. Mac expected a little more compassion from her.

"Well he is asking for you and you are next of kin. They will need you to make any decisions for him." Mac said.

"I don't think I can come down Mac. I think you better call his father for that." Alexis said.

"Look Alexis I know he hurt you but.."Mac started but was interrupted by Alexis.

"No Mac, you don't know. So let's not go there. I wish I could help you but I can't. I have my own problems right now."Alexis said.

"Alexis, it's bad." Mac said.

"Look! I said no and I mean it! I can't be there for him right now. I...I just can't Mac." Alexis said.

"Alright. It's ok Alexis. I understand. I didn't mean to upset you. I will call his father and let him know what's going on once I get more information. You take care ok." Mac said.

"Thank you Mac. Good night and I'm sorry." Alexis said.

"Me too. Bye." Mac said then hung up.

Alexis sat up in bed and turned her light on. Mac's words kept playing over and over in her head. She kept hearing "It's bad. Ric's been shot." It was like a broken record. Then she heard her own words in her head. " What do you want from me? and I can't be there for him."

Alexis couldn't believe how cold and callous she sounded to Mac about Ric. Yes, Ric hurt her but she knew it wasn't all his fault. She had some major baggage in the blame department when it came to how their marriage was ending. Alexis knew that for all of Ric's faults, there actually was a decent man buried deep inside of him.

Alexis looked at her bed. The bed she and Ric used to share and she realized then how empty it was without him. How empty her life was without him. He really was her better half. To think that there would be a world with out him suddenly hit her and for the first time in a long time she let that touch her heart and it made her cry. The release of all the pain she was holding in since the start of the cancer treatments, seeing Ric and Sam together, and now the divorce proceedings felt good. She felt alive again and it let her know what she needed to do. Alexis picked up the phone and pressed re-dial. She waited until she heard Mac's voice before she spoke.

"Mac, first I would like to apologize for my behavior. I was wrong and I'm sorry. You have always been a good friend to me and you didn't deserve any of that. Second, please don't call Ric's father. He really wouldn't like the fact that his father made any decisions for him. I will be there." Alexis sniffed out.

"No problem Alexis. I'll see you at the hospital." Mac said.

"Ok. Bye." Alexis said then hung up.

Slowly Alexis made her way out of bed and started to walk towards her bedroom door when it suddenly opened. She looked up and saw her daughter Sam standing there.

"How much did you hear?" Alexis asked.

"All of it. I didn't mean to ease drop but I heard the phone ring and picked it up the same time as you. So, your heading to the hospital?" Sam asked.

"Yes. Can you watch the girls while I go?" Alexis asked as she walked slowly to her closet to look for some clothes.

"Yeah sure. Can I ask you a question? Why are you really going to the hospital?" Sam asked.

Alexis stopped looking for her clothes and looked at Sam. She gave the most honest answer she could.

"Because he is still my husband and we have some unfinished business that needs to be addressed. So please just let me get dressed before I change my mind." Alexis said.

"Alright. I don't want to fight with you. I just wanted to make sure you knew why you were going." Sam said.

"Thank you." Alexis said.

Alexis was very glad that she and Sam where able to put the past behind them. Although they were still working the kinks out their relationship they had really come a long way since that night she found her and Ric together.

"Why is it you can never find anything when you are looking for it?" Alexis said going through her closet trying to find something to wear.

"Why don't you go shower and I'll find you something to wear." Sam said.

"Thank you. I'll go shower now. I'll be out in ten minutes then call a cab to take me to the hospital." Alexis said.

"Oh no. I'll call Nikolas and see if he can go with you. There is no way you are going there with out some kind of support with you." Sam said.

Alexis was about to argue because she felt like she was being assigned a babysitter but she thought about and decided having Nikolas there with her would be a good idea.

"Ok, please call him and see if he will come with me. What was I doing?" Alexis said flustered.

"Shower." Sam chuckled.

"Yes. Shower. Right. Out in 10 minutes." Alexis said then went in to the bathroom and started her shower.

When Sam heard the shower running she quickly found some clothes in the closet for Alexis. She figured all Alexis would need is a t-shirt,jeans,and a light sweater. Not clothing Alexis would usually wear Sam thought, but this was about getting something on fast not for the sake of fashion. Once the clothes were laid out on the bed Sam quickly ran into her room and grabbed her cell phone. She wasn't sure if she should make this call but she thought he would like to know. Sam closed her eyes and let her fingers dial the number that she knew all to well. The phone started ringing and just as she was about to hang up she heard his voice.

"Morgan."

Sam missed the sound of Jason's voice. She wished that she was right there with him now in his apartment.

"Sam, is that you? Why are you calling?" Jason asked.

"Jason, it's me. I'm sorry to call you so late but I thought you and Sonny should know that Ric's been shot. Alexis and I just found out and she is getting ready to go down to the hospital." Sam said.

"Yeah, we already know. Sonny's got his people all over it." Jason said.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I should have known you and Sonny would already be working on it." Sam said suddenly feeling stupid. She should have known that Jason and Sonny would have known.

Jason could hear the disappointment in Sam's voice. He could tell she was only trying to help by giving him a heads up.

"Hey, thanks for the heads up. Sonny and I will send Milo and two other guards over to watch over you and the girls for a while." Jason said.

"Ok but, can you make sure they show up after Alexis leaves. You know she doesn't like it when Sonny sends his men over. It makes her feel like she is a prisoner." Sam said.

"No problem. I'll tell the guys to keep out of sight until Alexis leaves. Look, I gotta go. I need to touch base with Sonny and see what we our next move is." Jason said.

"Thanks Jason." Sam said.

Sam didn't hang up the phone first. She wanted to be connected to Jason if only for one second more. Before she knew it he was gone in an instant. Not even saying good-bye to her Jason hung up his cell phone leaving Sam hearing the dial tone and possible the final nail in the coffin of their relationship. She felt her eyes start to sting with tears but fought them back because she knew she had one more phone to make and that was to Nikolas.

Sam didn't want Nikolas to hear her crying and she definitely didn't want him to know who she was crying over. She didn't need another lecture from her cousin "The Prince" about how she could do better and that someone special is out there for her. Sam knew that was lie. She knew that Jason was the best she could ever do or **will **ever do. That night with Ric sealed her fate. She was going to be alone and there was no to really blame but her. When she crossed that line with him she all but sealed the deal that she and Jason would be no more. The best she could ever hope for with him was to be friends.

Sam was so caught in her thoughts of Jason she didn't even hear Nikolas pick up the phone.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Nikolas said.

"Sorry Nikolas. I was so wrapped in getting Alexis' things ready I didn't hear you pick up." Sam said lying to her cousin.

"So Alexis **is **going to the hospital?" Nikolas asked.

"Yeah. Wait? How did you know she was going to the hospital? Who told you?" Sam asked.

"You forget, my brother Lucky is a Detective. He called me to let me know what was going on with Ric. He figured that Alexis might need some moral support so he called me. I have been on my way to the house for some time now. I should be at there in about ten minutes." Nikolas said.

"Lucky's a smart man. It was very thoughtful of him to think of Alexis and call you for her." Sam said.

"We get that thoughtfulness from our mother. It's definitely not a Cassadine trait. Hey, I'm getting a call from Emily. I'll see you when I get there." Nikolas said.

"Ok, tell Emily I said hello. Bye Nikolas." Sam said then hung up the phone.

Sam walked out of her room and headed back towards Alexis' room. On the way she passed by Kristina and Molly's room. She peaked her head in and saw that Kristina was still sleeping but Molly was very fussy in her sleep. Sam looked at the clock on the wall and knew that it was almost time for Molly to have her bottle and that must be the reason why she was squirming around.

"Almost time for her bottle?" Alexis said softly.

Sam almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Alexis behind her. She didn't even hear Alexis walk up behind her. Somehow Sam manage not to scream out loud. Only a small gasp escaped her lips. Which was a good thing considering they were right outside the girl's room.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Alexis said placing a reassuring hand on her daughters shoulder.

"It's ok. I must be losing my touch. I normally would have heard someone walking up behind me. I'll go get Molly's bottle ready while you finish getting ready." Sam said.

Sam turned around and found that Alexis was already dressed and looked ready to go.

"Looks like you are already finished getting ready. I called Nikolas. He was already on his way by the time I reached him." Sam said.

"Really? How did he know what was going on?" Alexis asked.

"Lucky contacted him." Sam said.

"Ah, yes. It certainly does pay to have brother who is on the PCPD payroll. We'll if Nikolas knows then that means the news must be spreading like wildfire." Alexis said.

Alexis looked at her daughter and was a bit hesitant to ask the next question but she had to know before she left.

"Sam, does Sonny know? And please don't lie. Just tell me." Alexis said.

Sam looked at her mother and really didn't want to talk about this now. She knew that an argument might start about Sonny and his men providing unwanted protection for the girls and that was the last thing that was needed right now. But, she also knew that lying would also start an argument so she decided to just go with the truth.

"Yes, Sonny knows." Sam said leaving out the party about Sonny's men.

"And?" Alexis said with her eyebrow raised. She knew Sam was leaving something out.

"And what?" Sam said walking away from her mother's gaze. She started heading towards the kitchen to make Molly's bottle and to try avoid her mother's gaze.

Sam turned around to find her mother hot on her heels.

"Sam, there is something you aren't telling me isn't there?" Alexis asked while following Sam to the kitchen.

Sam made it to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door blocking her face from Alexis' stare. She grabbed the milk then closed the door to only find Alexis still standing there waiting for an answer from her daughter.

Sam placed the milk on the counter and grabbed a bottle from inside one of the cupboards and started to fill it with milk. She saw Alexis standing there and was purposely not answering her mother.

Alexis took this as a clear sign of what was coming. Sonny's men were coming. Meaning that once again he was going behind her back making decisions for her and girls. Alexis walked over to the wall where the cordless phone was and grabbed the receiver. She walked over to Sam and handed her the phone.

"Call Jason and tell him his goon squad is not needed." Alexis said.

Sam rolled her eyes at her mother request. She walked past her and placed the bottle and the milk back in the fridge. Sam took the phone from her mother's hand and placed the receiver back on the hook.

"No." Sam said then walked out of the kitchen towards the living room.

"No! Sam!" Alexis said as she followed her daughter into the living room.

"What!" Sam said. She was starting to get angry that her mother didn't see the big picture.

"I don't want them here. This is my house not Sonny's. He doesn't make the decision for me. If I want protection I'll get it on my terms. Not his." Alexis said.

"Why can't you see the big picture here?!" Sam said with her hands in the air.

"And what is that?" Alexis said with her arms now crossed.

"That whoever shot Ric may not be finished. This could be just the beginning." Sam said.

"You don't know that. That's purely speculation." Alexis said going into lawyer mode.

"Neither do you! Why take the chance? Alexis, you know as well as I do that Ric has made plenty of enemies both in and out of the courtroom. Hell, the list was a mile long before he even became District Attorney. Taking that job just made him an even bigger target." Sam said.

Alexis moved over to the couch and sat down. She was starting to get tired and this discussion /argument with Sam was starting to take away what little energy she had.

"I agree with you Sam that Ric has made many,many,many, enemies. And being District Attorney does put a bulls eye on your back. Even with all of that, that doesn't mean that whoever went after Ric would be after the girls and I." Alexis said.

Sam walked over to her mother and knelt down in front of her and interlocked her fingers with Alexis'.

"Do you really want to risk your life and the girls life on that belief? Whoever did this was smart Alexis and didn't care that Ric was District Attorney. They did their research and must have been watching Ric for a really long time. When they shot him they were sending a message to everyone. What really makes you think that if Ric survives this that they won't use you or the girls against him next time?" Sam asked.

Alexis was about to try and argue her case when she heard a knock on the door that made her stop.

"That's probably Nikolas." Alexis said.

"I'll get it." Sam said then started walking towards the door leaving Alexis to think about what was said.

Sam open the front door and gave Nikolas a hug as he walked inside. After the hug Nikolas looked at his aunt on the couch and could tell something was wrong.

"What's going on? Why are you so upset Alexis?" Nikolas said looking at both Alexis and Sam for answers.

"It's nothing." Alexis said waving Nikolas off.

"No, it's not. What is it? Where you two fighting." Nikolas said.

Sam stepped forward and stood next to Nikolas to try and explain.

"Alexis and I were having a discussion about Sonny providing protecting for her and the girls. I thought it was a good idea but Alexis doesn't agree." Sam said.

"I don't normally like to agree with Sonny but he is right this time. You and the girls do need protection." Nikolas said.

Alexis put her head in hands. "Oh god not you too." she said.

"I said you need protection. I didn't say you needed Sonny's protection." Nikolas said.

"What are you proposing Nikolas?" Sam asked.

"Why don't we talk about that after we come back from the hospital. I say for now you let Sonny's men stay and watch the house. Then tomorrow my dear aunt we will sit down with Sonny and make plans that are more to your liking. Does that make you feel better?" Nikolas asked.

"Much. You're such a good nephew. You know that?" Alexis said getting up off the coach.

She gave Nikolas a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

" Of course I do. I'm your only nephew." Nikolas laughed. "Seriously Alexis. You should know by now that I would do anything for you. With Laura and Stephan gone, you are the closet thing to a parent I have. I don't know what I would without you."

Alexis was touched by what Nikolas' words. She could feel herself almost starting to cry but she knew she didn't have time for that. She needed to get to the hospital.

"You always know the right thing to say don't you? Thank you Nikolas." Alexis said.

"Anytime." Nikolas said.

"I think you two better get going." Sam said.

"Quite right. I want to get to the hospital before it rains. When I was coming in on the launch I saw there was storm brewing. A bad one. And the last thing you need is to get sick." Nikolas said.

"Well then let's get out of here. Sam, I will call you and let you know what's going on and to check on the girls." Alexis said as she headed towards the door with Nikolas.

"Don't worry about us we will be fine and I think after I feed Molly I'm going to try and go back to bed. If you have to call just call my cell phone. I will have it sitting next to me on the nightstand." Sam said.

"Ok, see you the morning." Alexis said walking towards the door with Nikolas and Sam right behind her.

Nikolas opened the door and saw that it was already starting to drizzle.

"Looks like it's starting to rain. Let's get on the road. Put the hood to your sweater on. " Nikolas said.

"Yes, dad." Alexis said as she put her hood on. " Happy now?" she said when it was on.

"Delighted." Nikolas said.

Nickolas and Alexis were just about to head out the door when Sam called Alexis' name.

"Alexis!" Sam called.

"Yes?" Alexis said

"I hope that he's..." Sam couldn't finish her sentence because apart of her was still very angry with Ric. She didn't know how many times she had wished him dead in some horrible way. Now that there was an actually chance that he might die Sam felt guilty for thinking such things.

Alexis placed a knowing hand on her daughters shoulder. She smiled at Sam letting her know she knew what she was trying to say. Alexis then turned and headed out the door with Nikolas.

Once inside Nikolas' car he noticed that his aunt kept fidgeting in her seat and wringing her hands back and forth.

Nikolas turned to his aunt before he started the car.

"Second thoughts?" Nikolas asked.

"More like third,fourth, fifth thoughts. I'm just not sure I should go. How do I know he wants me there?" Alexis said.

"He wants you there Alexis." Nikolas said.

"How do you know? We said some pretty nasty things to each other the last time we were together." Alexis said thinking back on the harsh words that flew out of her mouth towards Ric. She would have given a sailor a run for his money.

"He asked for you Alexis." Nikolas said.

"He what?" Alexis asked softly.

"He asked for you. Lucky told me when he called me that Ric asked him to call you. Then I got a call from Emily who is his attending and she also said that all Ric has been asking for is you. So you see, he wants you there. But, if you want to stay here I understand." Nikolas said.

Alexis took a deep breath and let the words Nikolas told her sink in. Then she remembered that when Mac called her he said Ric asked for. She was was busy ranting that she missed that part until now. But she knew for sure now. Ric had asked for her. He was calling for her. He did want her there with him and if that's what he wanted then she would be there.

"Start the car before I change my mind." Alexis said.

Nikolas smiled and patted his aunts now shaking hands. He started his car and headed towards hospital.

-TBC-


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here is chapter 3. Hope you are all enjoying the story. There is more to come. If you have time drop a review. Happy Reading!!!! **

His cell phone rang and he knew exactly who it was. It was the people who paid him to do a job. A job that he hadn't completed yet. He knew that would not make his bosses happy that the target was still breathing. After all, they paid for the best and this certainly was not his best work.

He started to get upset because the phone kept ringing. He took a deep cleansing breath then answered the phone.

"Is it done?" the computerized voice asked.

"No. There were complications." he said.

"What complications?" the voice asked.

"Nothing I can't handle." he said.

"We didn't pay you for complications. We paid you to do a job. We are very disappointed." the voice said.

"It would have been done but I was interrupted by a cop. The police arrived faster than I expected." he said.

"Are those excuses I hear? You should no better than that. Maybe this job was too much for you. Maybe we need to get some else to complete this mission." the voice said.

"No! No. No one else needs to come in. I can still complete the job. I just need more time." he said.

A few seconds past by and nothing was said by the voice. That got him nervous. He knew they didn't tolerate failure from anyone. Not even from someone who had proved themselves over and over like he did. He was hoping that tonight wouldn't be his last night on earth.

"I have talked with the others. You will have that chance. But, know this, if you fail, there will be no more chances and your death will be an example to anyone that cannot do the job. Are we clear?" the voice said.

Even though the voice was computerized it still had an edge to it. There weren't many things in the world that scared him but he could now add this voice to the short list of things that made him shutter.

"Crystal." he said.

"Good. Now what do you propose to do to complete this job?" the voice asked.

"Well since the direct approach didn't work. I propose a Plan B." he said.

"And what does this Plan B entail?" the voice asked.

"I will infiltrate from within. I will be the wolf in sheep's clothing. My plan is gain the trust of the people of Port Charles and then once I have it I will strike. They will never see it coming." he said with a smile.

"E-mail what you need and you will have it in the morning. In the mean time, meet at the rendezvous point for your debriefing." the voice said.

"Understood." he said.

"Remember my friend, failure is not an option here. We must complete this hit if we are to move forward with our plans." the voice said.

"I will not fail." he said with determination in his voice.

"I know you won't. Above all others...." the voice said.

"We rise." he said completing the mantra he had heard his whole life.

He closed his cell phone and placed it back in his pocket. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He was angry that the job did not go as he had so careful mapped out. He spent months working on this hit. He watched, he planned, he waited. All those countless hours of preparation were waisted. Now he needed to come up with a way to make Plan B work. It had to be good. No, not good. It had to be extraordinary if he was going to pull this off. His life was on the line so he was going to use all his resources to make this plan come to fruition. He tried to think of how to make this work but he was too tired and too mad at himself to think. His brain was shutting down and fatigue was now setting in taking away all the adrenaline he had depended on earlier. All he wanted to do now was close his eyes.

"Where are we heading to sir?" his driver asked.

"To the rendezvous point. My presence has been requested and our services are still being retained." he said.

He yawed and stretched his arms out. He then tried to find a comfortable spot to try and get some sleep.

The driver nodded his head. "Right sir."

"I'm going to shut my eyes back here and try to get some sleep. It's been a long day. Wake me when we reach the rendezvous point." he said then closed his eyes.

The last thing he heard before going to sleep was the driver saying yes sir and then nothing.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Alexis and Nikolas walked through the automatic doors of the ER and started to look around for a familiar face that might have some answers on what was going on with Ric. As they walked past all the other sick people waiting to be treated they heard someone calling them over to them. Alexis looked over to see Robin making her way over to them.

Robin walked over and gave both Nikolas and Alexis a hug. She told them to follow her and that she would take them upstairs by elevator to the fifth floor surgery ward.

Robin noticed how quiet the elevator ride was. No one had said a word since getting on which made the ride up to the fifth floor longer than it should have been. Robin decided couldn't take the silence and more and decided to break the ice.

"How have you been doing Alexis?" Robin asked.

"I take it day by day. No more, no less. How's that baby girl of yours?" Alexis said.

Robin couldn't help but smile thinking about her little girl Emma. She was the apple of both her parents eye. A little miracle that she was thankful for everyday.

"She's doing great. Patrick and I have a hard time leaving her before we go to work. We drive the babysitter crazy because we call every twenty minutes to see how she is doing. The babysitter just laughs at us when we call. She says all parents go through separation anxiety. " Robin said.

Alexis shook her head and smiled. She remembered those days all too well with Molly and how Ric didn't want to leave her after she was born.

"I know exactly how you two feel. When Molly was born, Ric was constantly by her side. He hated leaving her alone with the babysitter. Our first night away from Molly which was a "date night". Ric took me to the Metro Court for a nice romantic dinner. It started out great until his cell phone kept going off every ten minutes. Turns out, he was so nervous that something would happen while we were gone that he set his cell phone to ring every ten minutes, thus reminding him to call and check on Molly." Alexis said.

"Ric really did that?" Nikolas asked.

"Oh yeah. At first it was funny. After the first thirty minutes not so much." Alexis said.

"So what did you do?" Robin asked.

"I told him if he called the house one more time I was going to throwhis cell phone off the nearest balcony." Alexis said.

"So did you?" Robin asked as the elevator doors opened.

"It rang. He called. It flew." Alexis said with a smirk.

"You didn't?" Nikolas asked laughed.

"Do you know me not to keep my word? That thing flew and hit the ground so hard it sent pieces everywhere. Ric was so mad." Alexis said laughing now. She remembered the look on Ric's face and it made her laugh even harder as they walked out of the elevator.

"Ric's face was so red from being so mad, I thought steam was going to come out of his ears like some cartoon character. To his credit, he never said a word." Alexis said.

"Ric never said anything? That doesn't sound like him." Nikolas said.

"I said he never said anything. I never said he didn't do anything." Alexis said.

"What did he do?" Robin asked.

"He walked back over to our table, grabbed my purse, took my cell phone out, made a call to the house, then threw my cell phone over the same balcony. I was so mad I was seeing stars. He on the other hand laughed his ass off. Then ordered champagne to celebrate. The funny thing was is that we had a better time without our cell phones on us. We talked and laughed. It was really a wonderful night." Alexis said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Nikolas looked at his aunt after she was done telling her story. He could see through the brave face she was putting on now that it was really hurting her to remember those good time. He took Alexis' hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, letting her know that he was here for her and that she could use his strength if needed. Alexis nodded her head at Nikolas letting him know she understood his gesture and appreciated it.

Alexis and Nikolas followed Robin over to the nurses desk where she picked up a chart. Most likely Ric's Alexis thought. They then followed Robin over to one of the surgical lounges where Lucky, Mac, and a couple of other uniformed officers were waiting.

Mac walked over to Alexis and gave her hug.

"I wish we were seeing each other under better circumstances." Mac said.

"Me too Mac. Me too." Alexis said.

"Why don't you get with Robin and then I'll let you know what we have so far." Mac said.

Robin was sitting in the back of the lounge with Nikolas and Lucky waiting for Alexis.

"Here Alexis, you can have the seat closet to Nikolas. I've got to talk to Mac anyway." Lucky said moving out of the way so Alexis could sit down.

After thanking Lucky Alexis sat down in his seat. She began to mentally ready herself for what ever Robin was going to tell her.

"I can start whenever you are ready Alexis." Robin said.

"I'm ready." Alexis said.

Robin opened up the file and started going over Ric's medical condition.

Meanwhile Mac and Lucky stepped outside to give the others more privacy.

"Alexis, I don't know how much you know so I'll start from the beginning. Ric was shot four times. He was shot once in the shoulder, once in the abdomen,and then once in each leg. One of the bullets hit his left knee cap and shattered it. The bullet to his shoulder did some damage but not anything major. So that's good. We are going to have an orthopedic surgeon repair Ric's knee and shoulder but not until we deal with the more serious injuries." Robin said.

Robin watched as tears started flowing from Alexis' eyes. She hated to go on seeing how much pain this was causing Alexis but there was more that she had to know. Robin waited until Alexis let her know she was ready.

"I'm ready Robin. Please continue." Alexis said.

"Ok, just let me know when you need to me to stop and I will." Robin said.

"No, you keep going. I'll make it through." Alexis sobbed out.

"Alexis, Ric's most serious injuries are from the wound to his abdomen and his right leg. The bullet to the right leg nicked an artery. Ric was loosing a lot of blood by the time the ambulance arrived. His heart had stopped before he even made it to the hospital. The paramedics did an excellent job getting him back. They got most of the bleeding to stop but once he arrived in the ER we saw that he need to get into surgery immediately. We're also worried about the wound to his abdomen. When the bullet entered it ripped a hole through the lining of his stomach, then traveled to his lower intestine causing some internal bleeding. The bullet is still lodged in there so we also needed to get him into the OR quickly to remove the bullet quickly and stop his internal bleeding. Now, I want you to know Alexis we have some of the hospitals best people working on Ric. Monica is heading up the surgical team with Emily and Patrick. Elizabeth is also in there and she is the best surgical nurse we have." Robin said.

"Patrick? I thought he was a neurosurgeon? Why is he working on Ric? Is there something wrong with his brain?" Alexis asked trying not to get more upset.

"Ric was hit in the face pretty hard. It caused a clot to form and it traveled to his brain. The clot has caused some swelling so Patrick is going to have to go in and relieve some of the swelling." Robin said.

Alexis was about to ask more questions when the door to the lounge opened and Emily walked in. She was wearing her surgical mask and scrubs. Emily walked over to where Alexis and the others were sitting.

"Alexis, Monica asked me to come in here and give you an update on Ric's condition. We managed to repair the artery in Ric's leg and that stopped the bleeding. We are still working on stopping the internal bleeding." Emily said.

"What about Ric's brain? Robin said something about swelling." Alexis said.

"There is still swelling in his brain. The problem is that Ric is very weak. I'm sure Robin already told you that Ric's heart stopped on his way to the hospital. Well it stopped again while he was on the operating table. Monica and her team were able to get Ric back but it's taking a toll on his body. Having Patrick do surgery on his brain right now would be ill advised." Emily said.

"So where does that leave us?" Alexis asked.

"Well, what we hope is that after the surgery is done, that while Ric is recuperating that the swelling in his brain will start to go down on it's own." Emily said.

"Will he make it Emily?" Alexis asked.

Emily smiled. She knew she could easily dash Alexis' hopes by saying the wrong thing right now. She had seen it done plenty of times by other callous doctors. They would crush the hopes of waiting families by using medical jargainthat the families wouldn't understand. Leaving them in some of kind of word limbo. Then when it's was all said and done, when the doctor couldn't give the families any more of their precious more time, they would just simple walk off with an un-heartfelt apology, never offering any kind of hope that their loved ones would make it. She was not going to do that to Alexis. Emily had seen many miracles in her life time and who was she to take that possibility away from Alexis or Ric. They both deserved a fair chance at the promise of miracle, no matter how bleak the situation was.

"Ric is young, healthy, and strong Alexis, and that's a good thing. He's a fighter and fighters like to win." Emily said.

"Your sugar coating the truth Emily. He's not going to make it is he?" Alexis said.

"You call it sugar coating, I call it giving some much needed hope. If your not strong for him Alexis, who else will be?" Emily said.

Nikolas looked at Emily and smiled. He fell in love with Emily all over again in that one single moment. The way she is always able to see the good in things never ceased to amaze him. Nikolas looked over at his aunt and for the first time since she learned of Ric's condition there was a glimmer of hope that sparked in her and he could see it. He would have to thank Emily later for bringing some much needed positive energy into what easily could turn into an even more tragic event.

"I know this was a lot to take in Alexis and I'm sorry but please don't lose faith." Emily said.

"I'm not sure I have any left Emily." Alexis said sincerely.

"You do. You do. Now, I have to get back into the OR. I will come get you as soon as the surgery is over. I'll see you all later." Emily said.

"Thanks Em." Nikolas said.

"Yes, thank you Emily." Alexis said.

"Anytime." Emily said as she winked at Nikolas. Then headed out the door.

"Would you excuse me for a second?" Nikolas said.

"I'll be fine Nikolas go ahead." Alexis said.

Nikolas nodded then headed out the room after Emily.

"Emily!" Nikolas called.

Emily stopped when she heard Nikolas call her. She turned around to see her handsome prince walking towards her.

"Emily I know you have to get back so I won't take up to much of your time." Nikolas said.

"I can spare a moment for you. What is it?" Emily asked.

"Em, you can tell me the truth. Is he really going to make it? Should I be preparing Alexis for the worst?" Nikolas asked.

"It's bad Nikolas. There's no denying that but like I told Alexis, Ric has a lot of things going for him. One of the best things is that he has a kick ass surgical team fighting to save his life and we are going to do everything in our power to make sure he comes out of that OR alive. The rest will be up to him." Emily said.

"Ok. Will I see you later?" Nikolas asked.

"I hope so." Emily said.

"I love you and thank you." Nikolas said.

"I love you too. I'll see you later." Emily said then started back towards the OR.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Mac was standing with Lucky not to far away from the surgical lounge discussing the case when Mac's cell phone started to ring. He pulled his phone out and looked at the caller id. He thought it would be Rodriguez giving him an update but it was a number that came up blocked.

" I don't know who you are but I want to know right now how you got the cell phone number to the Commissioner of the Port Charles Police Department?" Mac said angrily.

"Maybe I got it because I'm the brother of the Police Commissioner and I'm a damn good spy." a raspy Aussie voice said.

-TBC-


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks to all that have been reading. You'll be seeing some people from Port Charles in the next chapter. I hope to have it ready for you soon. Happy Reading and reviews do make a girl happy. So drop a line or two. **

Mac recognized the voice right away of his brother Robert. At first Mac was happy to hear from Robert since it had been such along time since he had heard from him but then it dawned on him that it wasn't a coincidence that Robert called him.

"Robert?! Can I assume that you aren't just calling to say hello? You must have heard about the shooting?" Mac asked.

"Well I have missed you little brother, but you're right. This is about business more than pleasure. The WSB and the FBI both want in on this case." Robert said.

"So you're back with the WSB now?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Robert laughed.

"Look Robert, I appreciate the help on this but I think my department can handle this. We don't need outside help on this one." Mac said.

Robert sat up in the chair of his nice corner office at the WSB. He knew this wasn't going to be an easy phone call with Mac but he needed to make Mac understand what was going on. This was bigger than Port Charles.

"Mac, I know how fine your department is. Remember, I used to be Commissioner way back when. Frankly Mac, your going to need the help. This is way over your head. You have no idea what you are dealing with here." Robert said.

Mac looked over to Lucky and excused himself while he moved away to talk Robert in a quieter area.

"Robert, what aren't you telling me here? Was this a hit? And what do you mean this is over our heads? Look, if you want in on this then I want some answers." Mac said.

"There **is** no I want in on this. That's what I have been trying to tell you. **We **are taking over this case. It's now in our hands. The feds wanted to cut you out but I convinced them to keep you and your men in the loop here. There is task force being created and they are on there way to Port Charles now. We're calling it Operation Take Down. Members to the task force will be at Port Charles Airport in about three hours." Robert said.

"I'm not happy about this Robert. I don't like someone coming in and telling my men and I what to do in our city!" Mac said.

"Would you take the cotton out of your ears little brother. I just said that we are working with you. No one is trying to take this investigation away from you. I made sure to let them know that this is a joint task force." Robert said.

"You still haven't answered my question Robert. What. Aren't. You. Telling. Me?" Mac asked. He was really starting to upset with being left in the dark.

"When my people arrive they will give all that we have Mac. All I can tell you even on this secure line is that these people are very dangerous and that we have been watching them for some time now. Your DA Lansing...was not the first target. He was just in a long line of people who were hit. There were simultaneous assassinations all around the world of people who were involved in both political and law enforce arenas. These people have an agenda Mac and it's just got started. That's why I was telling you this is bigger than you or Port Charles." Robert said.

"Do these people have a name?" Mac asked.

"No. Whoever they are they are making it difficult for my people to track them down. That's why we gotta move on this now." Robert said.

"Can nothing ever be easy?" Mac asked more to himself than Robert.

"No. I wish it were some days, but if it was, then we would be out of jobs now wouldn't we?" Robert said.

Mac laughed and shook his head.

"I suppose you're right." Mac said.

"Listen Mac, about the task force. There are two spots open for your PCPD people. Who are you gonna have working on it?" Robert asked.

"My two best detectives. Spencer and Rodriguez." Mac said.

"Spencer? Luke's son? He's still on the force?" Robert asked laughing.

"Yeah, despite the everyday protest from his old man. He's a really good cop Robert. He was also the first unit on scene when the call came out. Luke should be proud of him." Mac said.

"Well, Luke's not the only one who failed in the parenting department." Robert said looking at the picture of Robin and his new baby granddaughter on his desk.

"Robin still loves you no matter what Robert. You have and always will be her hero. You just have to remember that 'long as you stay in her life and try to keep making amends for the past, you still will be her favorite spy and Emma's best grandpa." Mac said.

"I'm trying. It's on my things to remember daily list." Robert said.

"These agents that are coming. Do I get some names on them or will we have to hold up a sign for them at the airport?" Mac asked.

"Their names are Ward and Pembrooke. Pembrooke is all FBI. He is strictly by the book and can be a pain in the ass but he's a god guy. Ward on the other hand is one of my people. I recruited her myself. I selected her specifically for this because she is familiar with the area. She's one of my best and always gets the job done. " Robert said.

"Alright. I'll have Lucky and Rodriguez go to the Airport and pick them up." Mac said.

"Look, I have to go Mac. I'm getting some more Intel coming in as we speak." Robert said looking at the fax that was coming in.

"Are you going to be making an appearance?" Mac asked. He rarely got to see Robert and even under the worst of circumstances it was always good to see his big brother.

"No, not this time. The WSB and the FBI have me working overtime on this. As a matter fact, if you do see me, that means things have gotten a hell of a lot worse." Robert said.

"Gotcha." Mac said.

"Take care little brother and watch your back." Robert said.

"You too and Robert, thanks for keeping us in the loop." Mac said.

"Anything for the Police Commissioner of Port Charles." Robert said then hung up his phone.

Mac walked over to where Lucky was waiting for him to give him the update on what Robert had just told him. He saw that Lucky was on his cell phone talking to Rodriguez.

"Man, you have got to be kidding me? Alright, I'll let Mac know." Lucky said hanging up his cell phone.

"What's up Lucky?" Mac asked.

"Rodriguez told me that the ET's (evidence technicians) on the scene are unable to find any casing at the scene. They haven't been able to collect much of anything from there. He also said that they found the security guard dead in one of the broom closets. It looks like the guy never had a chance to even draw his gun. Who ever this guy is he's good." Lucky said.

"Anything on the surveillance tapes?" Mac asked.

"We won't have access until the morning. They only have one person who knows how to access the tapes and he is out of town at a conference on better security. When we called him and told him what happened he said he would be making arrangements to come back in the morning." Lucky said.

"Nice. The one things this case doesn't need is delays." Mac said with some irritation in his voice.

"Can I assume that the phone call of yours from Robert wasn't a good one?" Lucky asked.

"Your assumption would be correct. We are getting some uninvited guest on this case." Mac said.

"Let me guess. The Feds." Lucky said.

"Not only the Feds but the WSB will also be joining the party. Their agents will be here in about three hours. I want you and Rodriguez to go to the airport and pick them up. We'll have a briefing with them in the morning." Mac said.

"C'mon Mac we don't need them here. With Rodriguez and I taking lead on this we'll have this case solved. We don't need outsiders coming in here and telling us how to do our jobs." Lucky said.

"I agree with you Lucky. I already gave Robert an earful on how we don't need his people or the FBI here. What it comes down to is that whether we like it or not it's their show. The good thing is that Robert did make sure that we are on the task force. It's called Operation Take Down. You and Rodriguez will be on the team." Mac said.

"Task Force?What's going on Mac? How big is this?" Lucky asked.

"There is a lot more to this case than Lansing just getting hit. From what Robert said he was just one of many. There were several hits done simultaneously around the world. Lansing was for lack of a better word..lucky. If you want call the hell he is going through right now luck. The agents coming here will give us the full story." Mac said.

"So, who are these super agents that Rodriguez and I will be meeting?"Lucky asked.

"Their names are Pembrooke and Ward. Pembrooke is with the FBI. He's all the by the book and can be an ass per Robert." Mac said.

"Great. What about Ward?" Lucky asked.

"Ward is with the WSB and one of Robert's best people. Robert said he picked her because she gets the job done and knows the area." Mac said.

"Knows the area? Is she from Port Charles?" Lucky asked now curious about this Agent Ward.

"Don't know. You'll have to ask her when she arrives." Mac said.

"Right. Mac, if it's alright with you I'm going to head over to the PD and start on some of my paperwork." Lucky said.

"That's fine. I'm going to head over to the crime scene and tell Rodriguez what I just told you. Then get him some relief so you two can meet our friends at the airport. I also need to notify Mayor Floyd and the press about what happened to Ric." Mac said.

"Glad I'm not in your shoes." Lucky laughed.

"You just wait Lucky, you'll be Commissioner before you know it." Mac laughed.

"No thanks. I like my sanity. See you Mac." Lucky said.

"Don't forget to pick up those agents and tell those two uniformed officers that they will be watching Lansing's room until day shift comes on duty." Mac said.

"I won't forget and I'll tell them." Lucky said.

Lucky started to walk towards the elevators to leave when he passed by the two uniformed officers from earlier. He told them what Mac said about being assigned to Lansing until day shift comes on duty. When that message was delivered he started heading back towards the elevators then stopped as he passed the surgical lounge Alexis and Nikolas were in. He was about to quickly walk past when Nikolas saw him and waived him in.

Lucky cursed underneath his breath. He really didn't want to go back in there. He hated moments like this where he had to be in a small sterile waiting room. They reminded him to much of when he would go visit his mother at Shadybrooke. He, Nikolas, and Lulu would always have to wait in a all white room for what seemed like hours but was actually minutes for them to get their mother ready for visitors. It would drive Lulu and him crazy staring at the white walls while Nikolas would just sit there like it didn't bother him telling them both to just calm down in his usually princely manner.

Lucky walked into the lounge towards Alexis and Nikolas. He noticed that Robin was no longer with them. She must have went back to work he thought. He sat down next to Nikolas and looked at Alexis. She looks tired he thought. Like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

"Alexis, I promise I'm going to find the people who did this to Ric and make them pay." Lucky said.

"Thank you Lucky. Do you know anything more about the case?" Alexis asked.

"I can't give you much. You know the drill about giving information out." Lucky said.

"I remember. I was hoping you could bend the rules just a bit?" Alexis asked.

"Ok. Just a bit. This wasn't random Alexis. This was a planned hit." Lucky said.

"Planned? By who?" Alexis asked.

"We don't know. The FBI and the WSB are sending agents here so we can find out more about who did this. I will be picking them up in about 2 and half hours from the airport." Lucky said.

"The WBS and the FBI? Two agencies that don't play well with others. I remember having many fights over jurisdiction with them when I was DA. Are they going to play nice with you and the PCPD?" Alexis asked.

"As a matter of fact they are. Rodriguez and I have been assigned to the task force they are forming. I wish I could give you more Alexis but I can't." Lucky said.

"I know and I appreciate what you told me Lucky. Thank you." Alexis said.

"Not a problem. If you need anything Alexis please let me know. And I meant what I said. I will get whoever did this." Lucky said.

"I know you will." Alexis said.

"I gotta go to the station and start my report. I'll see you both later." Lucky said then headed out the door.

Alexis and Nikolas both waived their good byes as Lucky left.

Alexis leaned her head on Nikolas' shoulder then yawned.

"You have a good brother there Nikolas." Alexis said then yawned again.

"I know. Lucky's the best and if he says he's going to get whoever did this, then I believe he will." Nikolas said.

Alexis yawned again and Nikolas looked over to see her start to shiver. He hadn't noticed before how cold the room was until now.

"Cold?" Nikolas asked.

"A little. I've been feeling so cold lately since the chemo started." Alexis said.

"I'll get go get a blanket." Nikolas said.

"No, I'll be fine." Alexis said.

"Nonsense. I'll be right back with a blanket. I'll go to the nurses station and ask for one." Nikolas said.

Alexis watched as Nikolas got up and walked out of the room and headed to the nurses station.

Alexis sat there and started rubbing her arms to try and get a little warmer while she waited for Nikolas to come back. When that didn't seem work, she tried to rub her arms harder but it didn't seem to do anything but make her arms tired and her hands hurt. Frustrated she gave up. Alexis grabbed one of the magazines off the table that was in front of her. It was one of the stupid gossip rags that she hated. She threw it back on the table and searched for another one. She found one that had a man and a women on the cover running across the beach. From the picture it looked like they had just gotten married. The woman was in a beautiful long white wedding dress with a tiara on her head. She was carrying her shoes in one hand while her other hand was holding on to her new groom's hand. He was wearing the white shirt of his tuxedo and had his blacks pants rolled up while he held he his shoes in his other hand. The caption underneath them said "How to make your marriage feel like you just got married and are still on that honeymoon." Alexis rolled her eyes at the caption.

"Dream on honey. It ain't all wine and roses." Alexis said then threw the magazine back on the table.

Alexis started to feel her hands getting colder and wondered what was taking Nikolas so long with that blanket. She started to rub her hands together to make them feel a bit warmer. While rubbing her hands she felt something on one of her fingers. She looked down at her hand and for the first time she noticed what was on her finger. It was her wedding ring. Alexis didn't even notice that she had put it on her finger when she was getting dressed. She looked at the ring on her finger and thought of it as an old friend that had come back into her life. It felt natural to have it on her finger and that brought a smile to her face.

For the first time in she didn't know how long, Alexis didn't mind seeing the ring on her finger. There were no bad memories and no bad feelings that came with just looking at it. Alexis hadn't realized how much she missed wearing it until now. It was a beautiful ring. She remembered telling Ric how beautiful it was when he put it on her finger. He told her he had to find something that matched the beauty of his blushing new bride. Alexis twirled the ring around her finger like a school girl who just got her first promise ring from her boyfriend. While she was doing that she sat back in her chair and let her mind drift to happy thoughts of her and Ric. She started to feel her eyes getting heavy. Before she knew it Alexis was asleep in her chair.

Nikolas finally made it back to the lounge with two nice warm blankets in his hand that Epiphany had given him. Despite her outward demeanor towards people, Epiphany actually was a very kind woman Nikolas thought. When he walked back into the lounge he was about to apologize to Alexis that it took him so long but stopped when he saw she was sleeping. He smiled at his sleeping aunt and was glad that she getting some kind of rest. Nikolas crept quietly over to Alexis and placed one of the blankets over her. He then sat down and placed the second one over him. Nikolas put his feet on the near by table and finally felt comfortable. He felt Alexis put her head on his shoulder. Nikolas bent over and gave his aunt a kiss on her head.

"Sleep well Alexis." Nikolas said.

Just before Nikolas closed his eyes he heard Alexis softly call for Ric. She started to get upset in her sleep.

"He'll be coming home to you soon Alexis. Shhh....it's ok." Nikolas said softly. He noticed that Alexis seemed to calm down at this words. She started to fall back asleep. Nikolas then joined her and went to sleep hoping that they would wake to good news.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lucky couldn't look at his computer screen anymore. His eyes were starting to get tired while he was writing his report. The words on the screen were starting to blend in letting him know that he needed to take a much needed break. Lucky stretched out his arms and yawned. He hoped that would wake him up a little but it didn't. He looked over to the coffee pot and thought that maybe a cup of coffee would help keep him in the world of the living. He got up from his desk and started walking towards the coffee pot. He glanced over to his partners desk and saw that Rodriguez had his head down. It had been a long night and looked like it might be an even longer morning.

Lucky was about to pick up the coffee pot and pour his coffee when he realized that he forgot his mug on his desk. He quickly went back and grabbed his mug off of his desk then went back to the coffee pot. Just as he was about to pour it in his mug he heard Rodriguez tell him to stop.

"Dude, that coffee is about five hours old. Not to mention the on duty Desk Sargent made it. And you know he can only make mud that he tries to pass off as coffee." Rodriguez said sitting up now.

"You couldn't tell me that before I got my mug?" Lucky asked.

"You look like you needed the extra walk to wake up." Rodriguez yawned out.

"Very funny." Lucky said.

Lucky picked up his mug and walked back over to his desk slammed his mug down. He really need that cup of coffee. His brain was moving slow and the caffeine pick me up would have helped.

"No need to get testy. I'll make us a pot of coffee. As you know, I got skills." Rodriguez said going up from his desk.

"Thanks partner. I just want to finish this report so I can...." Lucky stopped in mid sentence. Something kept gnawing at him like he was forgetting something.

"Oh crap! Come on Rodriguez!" Lucky said grabbing his car keys off his desk.

"Whoa slow down partner. Where's the fire?" Rodriguez asked.

"The agents plane will be landing in about ten minutes. We are going to be late and I don't think that Mac will like that." Lucky said.

"You gotta a point. You got their flight information?" Rodriguez asked.

"Yeah, I put in my phone. Wait...where's my phone." Lucky said looking around for his phone.

"Right here." Rodriguez said getting Lucky's phone off his desk. "What is the point of having an Iphone if you can't find it? Do they have a phone finder application cause I think you need one." Rodriguez said throwing Lucky his phone.

"Oh you are on a roll Rodriguez. Am I partnered to cop or comedian? Lucky asked.

"I like to think that I'm good at both. That's what makes me the best at what I do." Rodriguez smirked.

"Well then add driving to your list." Lucky said throwing Rodriguez the car keys.

"Sure I'll drive but you need to call Kelly's and see if they can hook us with some coffee." Rodriguez said as they walked out of the PD to the parking lot.

Ten minutes later they were met out back by Mike with two hot steaming cups of coffee. After thanking Mike, Lucky and Rodriguez headed straight to the airport.

Thirty minutes later Rodriguez and Lucky arrived at the airport. After getting through security Lucky and Rodriguez ran to the gate where the agents were supposed to arrive.

"26,27,28..29. Gate 29 this is it." Lucky said.

When they arrived at Gate 29 they found no was there waiting for them.

"Lucky, you sure it was Gate 29? I hope we didn't miss them and they already left. Mac will have your ass for that." Rodriguez said.

"My ass? You mean our asses." Lucky said walking over to the gate agent.

"Oh no son. He gave you all the information not me. I'm just an innocent bystander who was going on your instructions." Rodriguez said laughing as he followed Lucky.

They both walked up to the ticket agent who looked busy and didn't even notice the two men walk up to the counter. Rodriguez cleared his throat to get the agent's attention. She looked up from her screen and smiled at both of them.

"How can I help you gentleman?" she asked.

"Did flight 826 come in from Washington yet?" Lucky asked.

The women looked at her computer and punched up the flight information.

"It's looks like it was delayed. It will be arriving in the next half and hour. So why don't you gentleman take a seat. As you can see we have plenty." she said.

Lucky thanked her then walked over to the empty seating area with Rodriguez. He pulled out his Iphone and started to check his messages. Lucky read one from Nikolas letting him know Ric was still in surgery and that he and Alexis were still waiting to see if he was going to make it out of surgery. He sent a message back to keep him updated.

Rodriguez was checking his messages on his Blackberry. He then turned around and saw that one of the stores was starting to open and he was getting hungry.

"Hey." he said tapping Lucky on the shoulder. "You want something from over there? I'm going to get a sandwich from that shop over there and some more coffee." Rodriguez said.

"Yeah, get me a cup of coffee and one of those breakfast sandwiches." Lucky said reaching in his pocket for money.

"You know your money is no good with me. Besides you picked up breakfast last time. It's on me." Rodriguez said.

"Thanks man." Lucky said as Rodriguez headed over to the shop.

While waiting for his food Lucky looked back at his Iphone and pulled up the application that said photos. He tapped his screen and started looking at old photos. The first set were pictures taken of when his mother was awake and they gave her a second wedding with his dad. Lucky smiled as he looked at the pictures. That was a good day he thought. Everyone looked so happy, especially his mom. He touched his mother's face on the screen making it zoom in on her. "I miss you mom." he said.

Lucky skipped forward a little to some pictures of the office Christmas party at the PD. In the pictures were Lucky,Rodriguez,and some of the other detectives opening up their Christmas gifts Mac had given them. He went to the next picture and it was one with Elizabeth and the boys. It was the most recent picture he had of them.

Elizabeth and the boys were sitting under a tree by the lake in the park. They all had big smiles on their faces. Jake had the biggest smile of all of them. Lucky remembered that day very clearly. It was the day they had spent together as family for the last time.

Things had not gone well for Lucky and Elizabeth after his problem with pain pills. Even though he had gotten straight with re-hab the damage had been done. He and Elizabeth had tried really hard to make their marriage like it was before but no matter how hard they tried they couldn't reconnect and just staying together for the kids wasn't the right choice for either of them. Plus, when Lucky found out that Jake was not his son he knew then it was over.

At first he was mad at Elizabeth for keeping the truth from him but he understood her reasoning once she explained who the father was. Jason was Jake's father and it hurt Lucky to think that that sweet little boy was not his. He loved Jake just as much as he loved Cameron and even though both boys were not his blood that didn't matter to Lucky one bit. In his eyes, those were still his boys and he was proud that they both had his name.

The day at the park was the day the divorce was finalized between Lucky and Elizabeth. They decided to share custody of the boys and split everything down the middle except the house. Elizabeth insisted that Lucky keep the house. It was after all the house his mother grew up in and she knew that Lucky would one day need the room for a family of his own.

The funny thing was that after the divorce was all said and done, he and Elizabeth had found the relationship they were looking for, as friends. They started to talk again like they used to when they were friends in their younger days. Lucky forgot how much he missed talking to Elizabeth. It was nice they could still be there for each other as friends.

Today was six months to the day of their divorce. Elizabeth had moved on with Jason. She decided to risk the danger to be with him. Even with all the danger she spoke of before about Jason and his life style, the past had showed her having the Spencer last name didn't quite guarantee that Jake was going to be safe. The Spencer's had a long list of enemies just like Jason and Sonny. Lucky didn't think it was a smart move to be with Jason but it wasn't his call. Jake needed to be with his father and spend sometime getting to know him and Lucky always made sure that Cameron knew that his father was still around if he needed him.

Even though Elizabeth had moved on with Jason, Lucky's love life was still stuck in neutral. He had gone on a couple of dates but nothing serious. Nikolas and Emily has tried setting him up on blind date with one Nikolas' old friends from Greece but it didn't work out. She wanted nothing to do with a working class guy like Lucky and he found her to be snotty and rude. Nikolas apologized for days after the disastrous date. Lucky told him it was ok but he made Nikolas and all the rest of his friends promise no more blind dates or set ups.

Rodriguez finally came back with the coffee and sandwiches. He looked over Lucky's shoulder and saw the picture he was looking at of Elizabeth and the kids. He shook his head and frowned. Rodriguez felt sorry for his partner. He kept telling Lucky that he needed to move on like Elizabeth did. He wasn't to fond of her choice of men either but it wasn't his life. Rodriguez tapped Lucky on the shoulder and passed him his coffee and sandwich. He took his seat next to Lucky and started to eat.

Lucky took a bite of his sandwich and couldn't believe how good it tasted. It was a flaky croissant with egg, cheese, and sausage. He looked over to Rodriguez who took a bite out of his and Lucky could see he was thinking the same thing. Lucky then took a sip of his coffee and that was good too.

"Man, I think this coffee is better than the one we got from Kelly's" Lucky said taking another sip.

"Well it better be. I paid enough for it. I thought they were gonna ask for blood too." Rodriguez said.

"That much huh?" Lucky asked taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Let's just say for what I paid, it's a good thing the sandwiches and coffee were good otherwise I would have to go postal in here." Rodriguez said.

"Ouch. You sure you don't want money for it?" Lucky asked.

Rodriguez waived Lucky off and they both continued eating. Then they heard the announcement that flight 826 would be landing shortly at Gate 29. Both Lucky and Rodriguez quickly finished up their food then threw it in the trash and waited over by the gate entrance.

"So who are we waiting for again?" Rodriguez asked.

"Agents Pembrooke and Ward." Lucky said.

"Any chance one of them maybe a hot female agent?" Rodriguez asked raising his eyebrows up and down.

Lucky shook his head and laughed.

"It's a wonder why you are not married." Lucky said.

"Hey, I can't let all this be waisted on one lady. Like to keep my options open." Rodriguez said.

Lucky coughed out the word "bull" and the cleared his throat like he had something stuck in his throat.

Rodriguez laughed and patted his partner on the back.

"And yes, one of them is female. I don't know if she's hot. She's probably some pencil pusher from the WSB that has been behind a desk never seeing the light of day. My money says she probably old and ugly." Lucky said.

"My money says she is hot. You seen the Commissioner's sister in law? She's with the WSB and she is hot. I think it says it on the job application. Must be smokin' hot to have this job. Ugly people need not apply." Rodriguez said.

"You are unbelievable sometimes. I still think you are wrong." Lucky said.

The plane finally landed and Lucky watched as the plane started towards the gate. Once the plane was at the gate they knew it wouldn't be long before the passengers would be let off the plane.

"Think I'm wrong huh? Put your money where you mouth is Spencer. Twenty bucks says she is hot." Rodriguez said taking a twenty out of his wallet.

"Ok, you're on. Don't come crying to me when you loose the bet." Lucky said taking a twenty out of his wallet.

The gate attendant went to open the door for the passengers to disembark. At first only one person came out and it was a middle aged man. Then an elderly male and female came out next.

"See I told you pay up." Lucky said.

Rodriguez waived him off. "I'm sure there are more people coming off the plane. Give it a minute before you claim victory."

A few minute later a well dressed man stepped into the terminal and headed right towards Lucky and Rodriguez.

"Detectives Spencer and Rodriguez?" the man asked.

"Agent Pembrooke?" Lucky asked.

"Yes, good to meet you both." Pembrooke said shaking both their hands.

"My partner Miss Ward will be coming shortly. She was helping the elderly couple that came out before us with their bags. She went back to get hers." Pembrooke said.

Just then a frumpy looking female started to approach them. She was wearing a business suit that looked like it was on it's last leg. Her hair was put in a bun that was about to fall over and her skin looked liked she hadn't seen the light of day in years.

"Is that Agent Ward?" Lucky asked looking at the female. He could practically feel that money in his hand.

Agent Pembrooke turned around to look.

"No." Pembrooke said. He looked again and then pointed. "She's right behind her. Agent Ward over here." Pembrooke called.

Once the frumpy women moved out of the way that's when Lucky saw Agent Ward walking towards them. From his first glance at her Lucky knew not only did he loose the bet but possible his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Thanks to those who are still reading. Hope you continue to like it. Let me know what you think. Happy Reading!!! **_

_Previously...._

"_Is that Agent Ward?" Lucky asked looking at the female. He could practically feel that money in his hand._

_Agent Pembrooke turned around to look. _

"_No." Pembrooke said. He looked again and then pointed. "She's right behind her. Agent Ward over here." Pembrooke called._

_Once the frumpy women moved out of the way that's when Lucky saw Agent Ward walking towards them. From his first glance at her Lucky knew not only did he loose the bet but possible his heart. _

Walking towards Lucky was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. As he watched Agent Ward walk, it was like the world slowed down around Lucky. There was nothing else in the room except her.

Lucky couldn't help but look at Agent Ward like she was a piece of meat and he was a starving animal. It had been so long since a woman had truly caught his attention that his eyes were drinking every inch of her in.

His gaze started at the black pumps she was wearing that gave her a little extra height. The heel was just high enough that she wouldn't tower over anyone and not too short so she wouldn't have to look up at someone .It was just right where she could look whoever she was talking to eye to eye. Lucky continued slowly moved upward and his attention was now caught looking at those long brown chocolate legs of hers. They seemed to go on for days.

Then there was the suit she was wearing. Agent Ward was wearing a dark blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a pencil skirt with a small slit on the side. The skirt came just above her knees giving a professional look with the just the right hint of sexiness that didn't cross the line.

Upward more Lucky's eyes moved. They were now at her neck. A neck that he thought was calling to his lips. Begging Lucky to place gentle kisses against it. Lucky licked his lips at the thought of doing that. Then before Lucky knew it his eyes reached their final destination Agents Wards face. Her skin looked so smooth and flawless. Lucky imagined himself touching her face and it feeling like rose petals across his fingers.

He noticed that she had very little make up on. Usually women will put to much make up on hiding there natural beauty Lucky thought. She didn't make that mistake he noticed. She had just enough on so that what you saw was really her. Her lips were full and plump and just like her neck, Lucky wanted to get to know them both.

When he got to Agent Wards eyes he was disappointed he couldn't get a better look at them because she was wearing glasses. The glasses didn't take away from her beauty, but to Lucky it was like she was hiding herself behind them. Her hair was pulled back and put into a tight bun. Lucky wanted to take the bun out and run his fingers through her hair.

Rodriguez looked over to his partner and could see the man was practically drooling over Agent Ward. To protect his partners pride and that of the department he nudged his partner to bring him out of his stupor. Lucky felt Rodriguez's elbow in his side and that brought him back to reality. He was glad to see that Agent Pembrooke had his back to him and didn't see that juvenile display of his over Agent Ward.

Agent Ward walked over to where Pembrooke was standing with two men. As she got closer she thought one of them looked awfully familiar. She tried to place his face but couldn't. She brushed it off thinking it will come to her soon enough.

"Agent Ward this is.."Agent Pembrooke was about to introduce both men when Rodriguez stepped forward and introduced himself.

"The name's Rodriguez. Detective Cruz Rodriguez, and on behalf of the PCPD I'd like to welcome you to our fair city." Rodriguez said taking Agent Ward's hand in his and kissing it.

Agent Ward chuckled a little while Pembrooke and Lucky silently rolled their eyes at how corny Rodriguez was being. Sometimes Lucky couldn't believe that Rodriguez actually used these moves and that they worked on women.

"Thank you Cruz for the warm welcome but it's more like a welcome home for me. I grew up around here. This is my old stomping grounds." Agent Ward said.

Lucky looked at Agent Ward's face and kept thinking she looked familiar the more he looked at her. He kept trying to place her face but was having trouble.

"My partner here.."Rodriguez said pointing Lucky. "is from here too. Well at least his mother and father are. There practically legends around. Everyone knows Luke and Laura." Rodriguez said.

"Wait.. did you say Luke and Laura? As in Luke and Laura Spencer?" Agent Ward asked.

"Yeah, those are my parents. Did you know them?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah I know them! They were friends of my grandmother, Mary Mae Ward. Oh my god. I don't know why I didn't put it together before. You're Lucky, Luke's son." Agent Ward said.

Then it hit Lucky like a bolt of lighting. She was Mary Mae's granddaughter and Justice's cousin Keesha.

"Keesha? Wow! I haven't seen you in years. I don't know why I didn't put it together either. You look great." Lucky said.

Keesha blushed a little at Lucky's compliment. "Thank you. You look good too Lucky. I mean it's good to see you again."

Agent Pembrooke looked at his watch and thought it was time to get going.

"I hate to break up this little reunion but how about you two continue catching up in the car. We need to check in at the hotel and then get ready to start the de-briefing." Agent Pembrooke said.

"Doug's right. We made reservations to stay at the Metro Court. I think that we should stop there first and drop off our bags then head over to PD. If that's alright with every one?" Keesha said.

"Sounds good. We had most of our belongs sent ahead so they will be waiting for us at the hotel. Our carry ons are the only bags we have." Pembrooke said.

"Alright then let's head out of here. Our car's right outside." Rodriguez said.

"Keesha, can I carry your bags?" Lucky asked.

"Always the gentleman like your dad. I appreciate the offer but I can handle it. Thank you Lucky. " Keesha said.

"I wouldn't put the word gentleman and my dad in the same sentence." Lucky laughed.

"How about jack of all trades?" Keesha said.

"Now that sounds more like my dad." Lucky said making Keesha laugh.

As they walked through the airport to the car Lucky looked at Keesha and thought there was finally something about this case he liked.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Alexis was having another awful dream about Ric dying in her arms. She could hear him calling for her over and over again. His voice was filled with so much pain that her heart ached while she slept. She was glad when she felt someone moving her to wake up. Alexis looked up to see Emily standing over her.

Alexis couldn't read the look on Emily's face to see if things had gotten better or much worse. She looked over to see that Nikolas was still sleeping. Alexis gentle rubbed Nikolas' shoulder to wake him up.

"Nikolas. Nikolas, wake up Emily is here." Alexis said.

Slowly Nikolas woke up. He stretched out and looked around. It took him a second to realize where he was. Then he remembered. Ric had been shot and he was here with Alexis waiting on word to see how his surgery was going.

Once Emily saw that Alexis and Nikolas were both somewhat awake enough to listen she started giving them an update on Ric's condition.

"Hey you two. Did you get any sleep at all?" Emily asked.

"Some." Nikolas said.

"I was in and out but I'll get some more later. Now, what's going on with Ric? Did he make it through the surgery?" Alexis asked.

Emily sat down on the small table in front of Alexis and Nikolas. She pulled off her scrub cap and took a deep breath before she answered Alexis' question.

Alexis took that as sign that this was going to be bad news and grabbed Nikolas' hand like it was her only life line. Every fiber in her body was telling prepare for worst. There is no hope for the best. She cleared her mind and readied herself for the sad news she was about to receive.

Emily grabbed Alexis' free hand looked her in the eye.

"Ric made it out of surgery. He's being prepped right now to be taken to his room. You can visit him as soon as they have him ready." Emily said.

Alexis had readied herself for bad news, she never expected to hear those words come out of Emily's mouth. She was so happy she couldn't hold back her joy. Tears started streaming down her face uncontrollably. She started to sob into Nikolas' shoulder, getting the area she was crying on all wet.

"So, he's going to be ok? He's alright then? The surgery went well? Oh my god I can't believe he is going to be ok."Alexis said through her sobs.

Nikolas looked at Emily and he could see that Emily had more to say but didn't want to take the wind out of Alexis' sail so soon. He rubbed Alexis' back to try and get her to calm down enough so she could her the rest of what Emily had to say.

"I think Emily has more to say." Nikolas said softly.

Alexis looked over to Emily and could see she was waiting patiently for her.

"Emily? Tell me he is going to make it." Alexis said.

Emily wished she could deliver the news that Alexis wanted. She wished she could say that yes, Ric was ok, that he was going to be in the room awake, and waiting for her. Emily really wished she could say those words.

"Alexis, Ric did make it out of surgery but like I said before his body is very weak. We had to place him in a medically induced coma." Emily said.

"A coma? Why?" Alexis asked.

"Being placed in that state will better help Ric's body to recover from the trauma that it received from his wounds." Emily said.

"This is going to help him then?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, we believe this is the best thing for him." Emily said.

"Can I see him?" Alexis asked.

"Sure. Just let me call over to the Nurses Station to see if his room is ready. I'll be right back." Emily said then walked back to the phone near the door to the lounge.

"Don't loose hope yet." Nikolas said.

"I'm trying. I'm trying Nikolas." Alexis said.

"Ok, we'll be right there." Emily said then hung up the phone and started walking back towards Alexis and Nikolas.

"His room is ready. I'll take you there. It's just down the hall from here." Emily said.

Nikolas and Alexis nodded quietly as they gathered their belongs then followed Emily out of the lounge towards Ric's room.

The corridor they walked down was filled with other patients recovering from surgery. As they passed by the rooms Alexis tried not to listen inside the rooms but she couldn't help it since the doors to most rooms were open. Every emotion you could think of was pouring out of each one they passed by. Alexis tried to block each sound and each emotion from her senses. She just kept trying to focus on Emily and walking forward. She almost made it. It wasn't until she started to hear a small faint beeping that her resolve started to crumble. The closer they got to Ric's room the louder the beeping got causing Alexis' steps slowed slowed until they came to a grinding halt a few feet from his room.

Alexis tried to move her legs but she couldn't. She held onto the wall for support that her legs stopped providing. As she stood there she could hear the beeping again. Alexis looked ahead and noticed that Nikolas and Emily hadn't noticed that she stopped. She wanted to call out to them, to tell them to wait for her, but no words came out. A sudden fear of seeing Ric in that state was weaking her resolve.

"I can't do this. I can't do this." Alexis said to herself.

She felt like she having a panic attack. She felt like no air was reaching her lungs. Her palms became sweaty and the corridor felt like it was getting smaller. Alexis turned around and started to run. She had no idea where she was going but anywhere was better than this spot she thought.

Alexis was running so fast she didn't see someone turning the corner. She ran right into someone almost knocking them over. Alexis wasn't even going to stop and see who it was. She was just going to keep running until she couldn't anymore but whoever it was had a firm grip on her.

"Let me go!" Alexis said struggling to get out of whose ever grip she was in.

"Now what kind of ex-husband best friend would I be if I just let you run away like that?"

Alexis looked up slowly and standing in front of her was Jax. She didn't know why he was there and she didn't care. She melted right into his arms and sank to the floor crying.

Jax caught her and held on tight like Alexis' life depended on it. He didn't say anything. He just let her cry. Jax gentle moved strands of stray hair away from Alexis' face. He could see this wasn't the first time she had cried. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked exhausted.

Some of the hospital staff started to stop and help but Jax waived them off and told them she just need a moment.

"I'm here Alexis. Lean on me." Jax said.

"I can't do it Jax. I can't." Alexis said crying.

"What can't you do?" Jax asked softly.

"I can't see him like that. I can't." Alexis said through sobs.

Jax just nodded his head and continued to hold Alexis close. He could feel her body shaking with each sob.

"I don't want to remember him that way." Alexis said. "If he dies, I don't want to see him like that. Not with all those wires and leads attached to him. His body laying there so lifeless." she said sobbing.

"We can do whatever you want to do. There is no pressure and if anyone tries to make you then they will have to deal with me." Jax said.

Alexis held Jax tighter. He was always her knight and shining armor. Always riding in at the last moment to her rescue. She was so glad to have him in her life.

Alexis looked up at Jax and noticed that he was dressed like he was going to a business meeting or coming from one. Then again, Jax always looked sharp. Whether it was business or pleasure Jasper Jax always looked good.

Alexis suddenly felt bad for keeping him from what ever he was doing. His life shouldn't stop because she was falling apart emotionally.

"I'm sorry Jax. You probably have better things to do than sit here on floor with me. I'm sure you have plenty of business deals that need your attention." Alexis said.

Jax smiled and chuckled.

"Are you kidding me? I heard this is the newest hot spot in Port Charles. Right now you and I are in a very elite club. I think I might just buy this spot." Jax said.

Alexis started laughing.

"You laugh. I could make a lot money here. Place a couple of couches and a bar here and in I'm business." Jax said.

Jax looked at Alexis while she was laughing and was glad that she was smiling and that he could bring just a few moments of happiness to her.

"I'm a coward Jax." Alexis said half laughing and crying.

"No, you're not." Jax said.

"Yes,I am. Who runs away from something like this? What kind of person does that?" Alexis said.

"You are no coward. Not the Alexis Davis I know. She goes where angels fear to tread and takes no prisoners in the courtroom. You are a force to be reckoned with." Jax said.

"I don't know where that women is you're talking about." Alexis said.

"She's still in there." Jax said pointing to Alexis' chest. "She just got a little bit lost. I mean after all, her foundations were rocked a little bit recently. First, it was being a new mommy to little Molly. Then as you start to adjust to that boom, Cancer. Which by the way, you are handling like a real trooper. Last but certainly not least, Ric and Sam, and the crap they pulled." Jax said.

"Which wasn't total there fault." Alexis said.

"We'll throw stones about that later." Jax said. "The point is Alexis, that you have had quite a time this year. No one would blame you if couldn't do this one thing. I think even Ric would understand." Jax said.

"What about Molly? I think she would blame me if I wasn't there for her father. And I wouldn't blame her if she did." Alexis said.

"She's way to young to know what's going on and you're automatically assuming the worst is going to happen." Jax said.

"I do that because that's the world I live in Jax. The world of the Law. I love that there is no middle ground. No gray area. Just black and white. Right and Wrong. Life and Death. I wish life were more like that." Alexis said.

Jax didn't interrupt Alexis he just let her talk.

"I think you give yourself too little credit Alexis. I have seen you have that same passion you have inside the courtroom outside of it. Let me tell what I see. The problem here is so simple that it seems like it's more complicated than it truly is." Jax said.

"Well explain it to me because I can't see it." Alexis said.

"You're afraid of losing." Jax said.

"What? No. I have lost before. I know what it feels like to lose." Alexis said.

"Yes, but not like this. In the courtroom, you lose, you can appeal, which could still give you the win. The problem is that death doesn't always take an appeal when it's made and every time you and he have tangled you have come up on the losing end. He leaves you alone but takes the people around you away." Jax said.

Alexis knew who Jax was talking about. Death took away her mother when she begged for not to go and then her sister Kristina was snatched away from her not once but twice. Now Ric could also be taken away from her and no fancy legal terms or closing arguments could stop it if he was called. Jax was right. She was afraid.

"What does this all mean Sigmund? What do I do now that I admitted I'm afraid?" Alexis said.

"You already know what needs to be done. You just have to do it." Jax said.

Before Alexis could answer Jax she heard Nikolas frantically calling her name. She saw him turning the corner at full speed almost missing them as he kept yelling for her. Emily was right behind Nikolas and spotted Alexis with Jax on the floor. She called Nikolas' name letting him know that she found her. Nikolas quickly turned around and headed back towards Emily.

When he turned the corner he saw Emily was sitting next to Alexis and Jax of all people. He knelt down in front of Alexis and looked over to make sure she was ok.

"Are you ok? I looked everywhere for you. I was so worried" Nikolas said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. Either of you. As you can see I'm safe thanks to my white knight here. Thank you Jax. Now, can you please help your aunt off the floor?" Alexis said.

Nikolas and Jax both helped Alexis off the floor. Once Alexis was on her feet neither Nikolas or Jax would let her go until they were sure she could stand on her own. When she nodded that she was ok they both let her go but still stood close by just in case.

"I'm ready now." Alexis said.

"We can wait." Nikolas said.

"There is no rush Alexis." Emily said.

Alexis shook her head and smiled. "I'm fine now. I'm not afraid." she said turning back to Jax who winked at her. "Please take me to his room Emily."

Emily nodded and headed back down the hallway with Alexis.

Nikolas watched as Emily led Alexis down the hall and he started to walk that way when he noticed Jax wasn't following.

"You coming? Nikolas asked.

"I wasn't sure you wanted me there." Jax said.

Jax still left a sour taste in Nikolas' mouth. He still had some deep issues with Jax about keeping him out of Spencer's life for so long. Right now he was willing to put all that aside for the sake of Alexis.

"I can put aside our differences for her. She needs you right now and that means more to me than our "personal problems"." Nikolas said.

"Agreed. We'll table it. For her." Jax said.

"For now." Nikolas said as they started to walk back towards Ric's room.

"So, who told you?" Nikolas asked.

"Carly. She got a call from Sonny telling her he was sending men over because Ric had been shot. By the time she got off the phone Mac was on TV going a press conference about the shooting. I called Alexis' house and Sam told me she was here with you. I told Carly I was on my way here and cleared my schedule to be here for Alexis." Jax said.

"And Carly let you go without protest?" Nikolas asked.

Jax smiled at his wife's infamous temper.

"When does Carly not protest? I told her if she can be there for Jason, then I can be there for Alexis. There is no discussion when it comes to being there for Alexis." Jax said.

"I fully understand." Nikolas said.

When they both reached Ric's room they saw Emily standing outside the room.

"Is she ok?" Nikolas said. He tried to step past Emily when she caught his arm to stop him from going in the room. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"She asked for a moment alone before we went inside." Emily said.

"For what?" Nikolas asked.

"She said something about passing a message on to someone." Emily said shrugging her shoulders.

Nikolas looked from Emily to Jax. He was confused but Jax looked like he understood.

"Don''t worry Nikolas. She's fine. Just give her a minute." Jax said.

Alexis stood at the foot of Ric's bed just looking at him. She looked over to the heart monitor and listened to the beeping every couple of seconds letting her know that Ric's heart was still working. She then moved on to the tube that was going into Ric mouth giving him life sustaining oxygen. On the walk to the room Emily had told her that while Ric was in the coma he would need to be intubated and a tube placed down his throat which would help him breath. As the pump went up and down in a steady rhythm, Alexis watched Ric's chest move up and down. Without even realizing it she started breathing simultaneously with Ric like they were sharing the same air.

Alexis started to walk over to the head of his bed. She wanted to get a better look at Ric's face. Immediately she saw the huge bruise on his jaw and let out a small gasp. Alexis reached out and touched the bruise on Ric's face. When her fingers touched his face she realized this was the first time in months that she had touched him in such an intimate way. Her fingers began to trace the familiar chiseled lines of his face. She missed the feel of his skin against her fingers.

Alexis let her fingers travel up Ric's face to his hair. She let her fingers run though his dark soft locks. She moved some of the strands away from his face. He always hated when she did that but she loved doing it.

Alexis leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Ric's forehead. She let her lips linger on his skin. She then moved to his lips and placed a soft kiss on them. Again, letting them linger and savoring a touch that she almost forgot.

Alexis moved over to Ric ear and whispered into it.

"Fight. Fight Ric. Fight for Molly. Fight for Kristina. Fight to come back to me. And you tell death, he can't have you. He can't have you because I won't let him take you. I'm not afraid anymore." she whispered.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"You've got to be kidding me right?" Keesha said.

Keesha was standing at the desk of Metro Court trying to check her and Agent Pembrooke in. The problem was that the computer only showed his reservations and not hers.

As the desk manager tried to look through his computer to find out what happened Keesha felt a headache coming on. She was getting tired and needed a cup of coffee and at least a ten minute breather.

When the news broke about the simultaneous hits, Robert had her working over time on it by gather everything she could about who was hit and where. Keesha was making connections with every law enforcement agency around the world. By the end of all her phones calls and faxes were done, she had a plane ticket to Port Charles sitting on her desk and a smiling Robert Scorpio standing infront of her.

"Time to head home kid." Robert said.

Keesha tried to pass the tickets back to Robert but he refused to take them.

"I don't think I'm the right person for this job. You might want to get a more experienced agent for this one. Plus, I've got to many ghost there." Keesha said.

Robert huffed out a sigh when she said that.

"Who doesn't have ghost in that town?" Robert said. It was more of a statement then a question. "I know I've got a million of them there. Some of them I wasn't ready to face but I knew I had to to get the job done ghost or no ghost. You are the best at what you do Keesha. I wouldn't have given you this assignment if I didn't think you were up to it. I know you have some powerful ghost there. If it bothers that much, I could give this case to someone else if you like? I wouldn't hold it against you." Robert said.

"No. Absolutely not! No one has made the contacts I have and no one knows the city and the people like do. I'll do it."Keesha said.

"That's why I picked you love. You're a tough one and I like that. If I were those ghost, I'd be afraid you were coming back." Robert said.

Keesha was brought out of her thoughts by the clacking of the fingers on the keyboard the desk manager was still hitting.

"Anything yet? Uh...Artie?" Keesha asked looking at the man's name tag.

"I'm sorry Miss Ward. It looks like one of our agents over booked us. I could put both you and Mr Pembrooke in a suite. It over looks the water and has a great view." Artie said.

"A suite sounds great." Doug said. All to quickly for Keesha's liking.

"Let me guess the suit only has one bed right?" Keesha asked.

"Uh..yes." Artie said.

Keesha put her head on the desk and sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was spend time alone with Doug Pembrooke. The whole plane ride the only he talked about was himself . Even though Robert warned her that he was an ass she was willing to him the benefit of the doubt. That's what her grandmother had taught her to do. Then Doug opened his mouth and Keesha threw that benefit of the doubt right out the window.

Keesha leaned over to Artie and gave him her best smile. She could see it was working by the way Artie was looking at her. He looked like he would give her the keys to the hotel if she asked for them.

"Artie. That's a nice name." Keesha said.

"Th-thank you." Artie said.

"Look Artie, I'm really tired. There has got to be something in there you could find me? Anything. I'll even take a broom closet if you've got one. Can you look just one more time? Please?" Keesha said in a little girl voice.

Artie melted. "Sure. I'll look one more time."

"Bless you Artie. Thank you." Keesha said flashing him another grin.

Keesha walked away from the desk and headed over to where the guys where standing.

"Laying it on a little thick weren't you?" Pembrooke said.

"No. I don't." Keesha said.

"We could have easily just shared the room. We are adults." Pembrooke said.

"I think the lady likes her privacy." Lucky said. He was really starting not to like Pembrooke. The whole car ride to the hotel he kept making cracks about the PCPD and how he thought they were just cops in the sticks. Then he would make a half ass apology about it. If it wasn't for Keesha changing the subject each time he made a stupid remark he and Rodriguez might have decked him then dumped his body on the road. The worst was when he tried to make a crack about the PCPD shirt Lucky was wearing.

"Does your department always let their people dress so casual Detective Spencer?" Pembrooke smirked while he was sitting in the front passenger seat.

"They do Agent Pembrooke when the shirt you are wearing is covered in the victim's blood because you were trying to save him." Lucky said.

That quickly shut him up for the rest of the trip.

"It's a suite Detective. That means it's going to be a huge room. She can have all the privacy she wants on the couch and besides, we won't be spending that much time in the room. We'll be working on this case." Pembrooke said.

Keesha rolled her eyes and turned back over to Artie who shook his head and mouth the words "I'm sorry." to her.

Pembrooke smiled and said he was going to confirm the suite and walked over to the desk to talk to Artie.

Keesha walked over to Lucky and Rodriguez.

"There has got to be something else in town? C'mon guys, please help me." Keesha pleaded.

"What about Kelly's" Rodriguez said.

"No way." Lucky said.

"Kelly's isn't that bad. At least I didn't say Jakes." Rodriguez said.

"That's still open?" Keesha asked.

"Oh yeah. I don't think that place will ever close." Rodriguez said.

Lucky was about to say something when he heard someone calling Keesha's name.

"Keesha? Keesha Ward is that you?" an older voice said.

All three looked over to see Edward Quartermain walking towards them.

"Edward!" Keesha said.

"I thought that was you." Edward said hugging her. "You look so much like your grandmother." he said.

"Thank you Edward." Keesha said.

"So what brings you to Port Charles and why didn't you call me and let me know you were coming young lady?" Edward said pulling out of his hug.

Keesha chuckled. Same old Edward she thought.

"It was all so short notice Edward that I didn't have time to call you. I'm sorry. Anyway, I'm here working on a case for the WSB." Keesha said.

"The WSB? Those riff raff? I would have loved to have seen you work at ELQ. You would have gone very far there." Edward said.

"Thank you Edward. I didn't expect to be working there either, it just happened." Keesha said.

"Speaking of riff raff. Have you seen your father lately Lucky?" Edward asked.

"He's not my riff raff anymore Edward. He's yours since he married Tracy. The answer is no though. I haven't seen him. It's that time of the season when he likes to spread his wings and leave the nest. So tell Tracy she probably will hear from when he needs bail money." Lucky said.

"What? Luke is married to Tracy?" Keesha said in disbelief.

"Long Story." Lucky and Edward both said.

"Oh."Keesha said.

"Where are you staying my dear? I would love to have dinner with you while you are here." Edward said.

"Well, I thought I would be staying here but it seems like they lost my reservations. So right now I'm homeless. I was thinking of just getting a room at Kelly's until the Metro Court has something available." Keesha said.

"Oh no. You won't be staying here or at the hole in ground Kelly's. I insist you come stay with us at the mansion." Edward said.

Keesha was touched by Edward's offer to let her stay at his home but she couldn't stay there. That place held one to many ghost for her. Some dead, some still walking around. She also remembered that the Quartermains were notorious for their arguments and their snooping. She would never get any work done if she had to play referee and security guard.

"This would be a good time for you to ride in and save the day." Rodriguez whispered to Lucky.

"What are you talking about?" Lucky whispered back.

"Dude, did you not see the look on her face when old man Quartermain said she could stay at his house. I thought she was going to bolt for the door. She doesn't want to stay with them. I mean c'mon would you? Those people are crazy. And she sure doesn't wanna stay with Dougie over there. The guy's an ass." Rodriguez said.

"Cruz, I still don't see what you're saying?" Lucky said.

"Ok, I'll talk slower for you. You.. have.. a.. big.. house. It's..just.. you..living.. there. Offer.. her.. a.. place ..to..stay." Rodriguez said.

"What?! No. I can't. What would Elizabeth say?" Lucky said.

"She might say great. You're moving on. I'm so happy for you. You're not asking the woman to marry you Lucky, you're just offering her a way out." Rodriguez said.

"I guess." Lucky huffed out.

"Plus it will earn you some brownie points. So vamos my friend. Save her before it's too late." Rodriguez said patting Lucky on the back.

Lucky walked over to where Keesha and Edward were. He could hear she was trying to find a polite way to tell Edward no but he was not taking no for an answer.

"I don't mean to interrupt but if I may. Keesha you could stay at my house. I have plenty of room. Plus I live close by the PD." Lucky said.

"She is staying with us Lucky." Edward said.

"Are you sure Lucky? I wouldn't want to intrude? What would your wife say?" Keesha said looking at the band on Lucky's finger.

"He's not married anymore. Elizabeth is with that no good..." Edward said.

Lucky rolled his eyes at Edward. The man sometimes has no tact.

"He's right. Elizabeth and no longer married." Lucky said interrupting Edward. "We have been divorced now for about six months. So it's just me." Lucky said.

Keesha turned to Edward. "I would love to stay at your home..." she said.

Lucky frowned when Keesha agreed to stay at Edwards and was about to go back to where he was before but she grabbed his arm. ".... but I'm going to be staying at Lucky's. I appreciate the offer but I would never get anything done while I was at your home. Cook would fill my belly with too many of her good treats and while I was there... I would think too much of the past. I hope you understand." Keesha said taking Edwards hand in hers.

Edward nodded and patted Keesha's hand. "I understand my dear and I hold no ill will. I just hope to see you while you are here. I want to hear all about what you have been up to and maybe we can make some new memories to replace some of those old ones." Edward said.

"I'd like that and thank you for understanding." Keesha said.

"You are family my dear. Don't ever let anyone tell you different. Now I have to go. I'm having lunch with an ELQ investor. You take good care of her while she is here Spencer or there will be hell to pay." Edward said.

"I will Edward. Don't worry" Lucky said.

"Good. Take care my dear." Edward said kissing Keesha's cheek.

"You too Edward." Keesha said kissing Edward's cheek.

Edward waived his good byes then walked off towards the Elevators to meet his investor upstairs for lunch.

Keesha felt her eyes start to sting from the flood of emotions she was feeling at seeing Edward again. It made her think of her grandmother Mary Mae, her cousin Justice, and him. Three people who were now all lost to her. All dead and gone with no way to come back.

Lucky looked at Keesha and could see she was trying to keep her composure together. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her but this wasn't the right place for that or the right time.

"Keesha? You don't really have to stay at the house you know. I was just trying to offer you a way out of the Quartermain madness." Lucky said.

Keesha looked at Lucky and was grateful for the distraction he just offered.

"No Lucky I want to stay. I mean if the offer still stands?" Keesha said.

Lucky smiled bigger than he had intended.

"Uh no. No. It still stands. Why don't you have the hotel bring your belongs out here and we'll take it over to my house then head over to the PD." Lucky said.

"Ok sounds good. I'll let Doug know that his dreams of a suite and my sleeping on the couch are dead." Keesha said then walked over to the desk.

Rodriguez walked over to his parter who was still grinning from ear to ear.

"See was that so hard?" Rodriguez asked slapping Lucky's back.

"You have no idea. Thanks for the push." Lucky said. "Here you go." Lucky said passing Rodriguez the money he owed him.

"What this for?" Rodriguez asked.

"The money I owe you. That was the best bet I ever lost." Lucky said.

Lucky heard his cell phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and saw Mac's name.

"I want one of those." Rodriguez said looking at Lucky's Iphone.

"Next time Nikolas is in a generous mood I'll have him get you one." Lucky said as he answered the phone.

"Spencer! Where are you guys? Did you get the agents?" Mac asked.

Mac was on his third cup of coffee since the press conference and had already been on the phone with Mayor Floyd three times since. Any patience Mac had was gone two coffee cups and three phone calls ago.

"Yes sir, we have them. They had some problems checking in but it's all solved now. We will be at the PD in about twenty minutes." Lucky said.

"Good. I want to get the ball rolling on this. Dammit!" Mac said. He looked at the incoming phone call and saw it was Mayor Floyd again.

"You ok Mac?" Lucky asked.

"Don't ask me stupid questions Spencer. Of course I'm not ok. Mayor Floyd is calling me for a fourth time and I'm about to yell for my secretary to just go to Kelly's and get me some real damn coffee. Get those Agents down here so I can tell Mayor Floyd they are are here and we are working on finding out who shot Lansing." Mac said.

"We'll be there and I'll bring you in the coffee." Lucky said.

"Thanks. See you in twenty minutes." Mac said then hung up.

"Mac sounded pissed." Rodriguez said.  
"That's an understatement my friend." Lucky said.

"Hey guys we are all set. They are bring all my belongs up front as we speak." Keesha said.

"How did Pembooke take not getting his suite?" Lucky asked.

"Well he will still be getting his suite. Artie had already done so much work trying to reserve it for me and I felt so bad I just told him to let Doug have it. He of course had no problem keeping it." Keesha said.

A bell boy walked up with Keesha's three suit cases.

"Where is your car ma'am?" the bell boy asked.

"Lucky, why don't you and Agent Ward go to your house and drop off her bags. I'll call the station and have one of the rookies pick up me and Pembrooke." Rodriguez said handing Lucky the keys to the car.

"You sure?" Lucky asked taking the keys.

"I'm sure. Besides you need to bring Mac his coffee."Rodriguez said.

"Right." Lucky said. "Ok, you two follow me to the car and then we'll head out." Lucky said.

"Great." Keesha said as she and the bell boy followed Lucky to his car.

After dropping Keesha's bag's off at Lucky's home they both headed over to Kelly's to pick up some much needed coffee for Mac.

As Lucky drove through Port Charles Keesha was amazed at how much the town had managed to stay the same. Yes, there were some major changes like the Metro Court and Kate Howard's new home but much of the town has stayed the same.

The major change she noticed was the man she was sitting next to, Lucky Spencer. Keesha couldn't believe how much Lucky had changed from a cute little boy to a very attractive man. She always thought Lucky was cute back in High School but he was two years younger than her and she already dating someone so she never put much thought into him. She remembered Lucky as quite the little charmer back in High School and that he always with Elizabeth Webber, Emily Quartermain, and the new guy in town Nikolas Cassadine. They were known as the four musketeers.

Keesha couldn't believe that after all these years how easy it was to be around Lucky. She hadn't seen him since Justice's funeral several years ago. She remembered that he tried to offer his condlences but she quickly brushed him and others and there at the funeral off. All she wanted to do was get away and feel the pain of yet again having lost another family member.

Now looking back Keesha wished that she had stopped that day and listen to Lucky. Every time Lucky called her name her heart would skip a beat. She had to fight the urge to keep from looking at Lucky in way that would let him know she was very interested. There were times while riding in the car she would just get lost listening to his voice. He sounded so confident, so sure of himself, two rare qualities in men these days she thought.

Keesha looked at Lucky's face and noticed his eyes when he smiled or laughed. They became so bright and full of life and then as soon as the moment was over they were filled with a hint sadness that she could easily relate to. She wanted to take away the pain from those beautiful eyes of his. Keesha told herself when this case was over she was going to find a way to keep the sadness out of those beautiful green eyes of Lucky's.

When they pulled up to Kelly's Keesha couldn't believe how much the place looked the same. She got out the car and walked up to the window and looked inside. It was like the place was frozen in time. Keesha wasn't really sure she wanted to walk in a place that held so many memories for her both good and bad. The choice of not entering was taken away from her when Lucky held the door open for her. Keesha put her best smile on and told herself she had to go in sometime, might as well get it over with now. She thanked Lucky and walked inside.

"I can't believe this place still looks the same. I mean even the table cloths are still the same." Keesha said.

"Yeah I know. Why change a good thing when you got the formula right." Lucky said.

"I agree." Keesha said.

"Hey, it's only gonna take me a second to get the coffee from Mike do you wanna have a seat while I get it?" Lucky asked.

"Who's Mike?" Keesha asked taking a seat at the table in the back corner.

"Mike is now in charge of Kelly's. Aunt Bobbie doesn't have time to run the place because of her work at the hospital and my dad is never here long enough so they hired Mike. Who is also Sonny's father." Lucky said.

"Sonny Corinthos. The mobster with a heart. I remember him very well. I have to admit I always thought he was spawned not born." Keesha said.

"No love loss between you and Sonny huh?" Lucky said.

"He helped take two things very precious to me away. So yeah, there is no love loss between myself and Sonny." Keesha said.

Lucky didn't answer. He just nodded. He knew exactly who Keesha was talking about.

"I'll go get that coffee now. You want anything?" Lucky asked going behind the counter.

"Got anything sweet?" Keesha asked.

"Something sweet coming right up." Lucky said as he disappeared in the back.

As Keesha waited for Lucky she started to look around the room trying to find anything that would occupy her mind so it wouldn't drift to the past. She didn't want to think of him. A boy she lost so many years ago. The problem was they were connected in some small way to everything in this room. Even the seat she was sitting in now held a memory of them be together. This was her favorite seat when they sat together. She always chose this seat so she could look directly into his piercing blue eyes and get lost in them for hours. Then there was his he would smile, her world world stop. His smile always seemed like it was just for her and his kisses, always let her know that he loved her and only her.

Keesha became mad at herself. This is exactly what she didn't want to do. She didn't want to think of him. She didn't want to let the past consume her thoughts.

Keesha got up from her seat and quickly walked over to the counter. Behind the counter was a blond haired young girl. She was ringing up one of the receipts when Keesha called her.

"Excuse me." Keesha said then looked at her name tag. "I'm sorry... Lulu. I don't mean to bother you but is a Detective Spencer back there?" Keesha asked.

"Yeah he's my brother. Do you need something?" Lulu asked.

"Wait, your his sister? Wow you have grown up. The last time I saw you I was holding you in my arms. I'm Keesha Ward." Keesha said.

"Right. Lucky was just telling me about you. He said your an old family friend and that you are also here on a case. Do you need me to get him. Lucky!" Lulu yelled.

"No, no, no. If you could just tell him I'm going to be sitting outside. It's a nice day and I need the air." Keesha said.

"You sure you don't want me to get him?" Lulu asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you Lulu and it's really good seeing how lovely you have become. You look just like your mom." Keesha said turned around to start heading towards the door.

"Hey Keesha! I think he is done. You sure you don't want to wait just a minute for him?" Lulu said.

"Just tell him I'll be outside. Thanks." Keesha said.

Keesha was so distracted at trying to answer Lulu and hurry out of there she didn't here the door open. She bumped into a body and it was rock solid.

"I'm so sor..ry." Keesha said slowly.

Keesha looked up into the last face she wanted to see. It was the face of two different people sharing the same body. One was the boy she loved so long ago and the other was the thief who stole him from her. Standing before her was none other..... than Jason Morgan.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey Everyone! Hope you all are doing ok. I have had a crazy day and funny day. I just finished putting this chapter together and I'm working on the next two. This chapter is a little long because I haven't updated in a little bit and in this chapter the plot starts to thicken. Anyway hope you like it. Now there are some characters from some other countries in this and I tried to do some background on the countries and regions I thought they would be from so if they are wrong please bare with me and I will try to make any changes if needed. Like I said hope you enjoy! Happy Reading!**

_Previously on General Hospital_

_"Hey Keesha! I think he is done. You sure you don't want to wait just a minute for him?" Lulu said._

_"Just tell him I'll be outside. Thanks." Keesha said._

_Keesha was so distracted by trying to answer Lulu and hurrying out of there she didn't here the door open. She bumped into a body and it was rock solid._

_"I'm so sor..ry." Keesha said slowly._

_Keesha looked up into the last face she wanted to see. It was the face of two different people sharing the same body. One was the boy she loved so long ago and the other was the thief who stole him from her. Standing before her was none other than Jason Morgan._

Jason looked at the women in front of him and couldn't believe that Keesha Ward was standing there looking at him like she had seen a ghost. She almost lost her footing when she bumped into him and Jason was quick to grab her and hold her steady. Once he saw that she was able to stand on her own he tried to let her go but couldn't. Something in her eyes had touched a part of him he thought was dead and buried.

"Are you alright?" Jason asked.

For a moment Keesha couldn't answer. She kept looking into those deep blue eyes of Jason's.

"Keesha? Are you ok?" Jason asked again.

Some how Keesha found her voice to speak. "I'm fine. Thank you Jason." she said.

That was the first time in a very long time that his name has crossed her lips. Her heart ached with each syllable of his name.

"You can let me go now Jason." Keesha said.

"Sorry. What are you doing back in Port Charles." Jason asked softly.

That voice of his. That softly angelic voice was tearing at Keesha's heart. For a moment he sounded just like the boy she missed. The boy she used to talk to for hours and become spellbound by his smile. But when she looked at him, the spell his voice cast on her was gone. What stood before her was not the sweet angelic boy she remembered but a man who worked for a devil that stole him from her.

"What do you care why I'm back? You made it perfectly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me when I left. So please don't pretend now that you all the sudden care about my welfare Jason." Keesha said bitterly.

Jason was not surprised by Keesha's attitude and he didn't blame her. The way they left things years ago was not his finest hour. He was trying to get away from all things Jason Quartermain and she was one of the main people who stood in the way of that.

"I can't change the past Keesha. Neither can you. I'll I can do is say I'm sorry." Jason said.

"Save your apologizes Jason. I'm a big girl now and I don't the attention of Jason Morgan to get me through the day." Keesha said heading for the door.

That buried part of Jason started to stir again inside of him. It didn't like hearing Keesha upset with him. Before Jason knew what he was doing he grabbed Keesha's arm to prevent her from leaving.

"Keesha wait! We need to talk about this." Jason said.

"Let me go Jason!" Keesha said.

"Not until you hear me out!" Jason said.

"I believe the lady said to let her go." Lucky said walking from behind the counter. He placed the coffee and pastry box he was carrying on the counter next to Lulu.

"This is none of your concern Lucky." Jason said still looking at Keesha.

"It is now Jason. Keesha? You ready to leave?" Lucky asked walking up next to her.

Jason let go of Keesha's arm and stood there looking at her and Lucky. He was so pissed right now that Lucky was riding in to save the day. Like Jason would ever hurt Keesha or any women for that matter.

"More than ready. To many ghost in here." Keesha said.

Lulu walked over to her brother very slowly with the coffee and pastry box in her hand. She really didn't want to be in the middle of the stare down going on between Jason and Lucky.

"Um...here you go Lucky." Lulu said handing the box and coffee to Lucky.

Lucky took the box from Lulu but still continued staring Jason down. Neither one was willing to back down and blink first.

Lulu looked around and could see that customers in the restaurant could feel the tension in the room and that was not good for business. She decided to take a chance and play peacemaker so this showdown wouldn't end with someone getting hurt.

"Guys, this is not the time or the place for this. Lucky you and Keesha have to get to the PD and Jason you have..you have..coffee stuff to do for Sonny. So how's about you guys just call it even for now and go to your corners. Which I hope are very far away from each other." Lulu said.

"Lulu's right. We both have things to do." Lucky said to Keesha.

"Yeah, we have a meeting to attend to. Let's go." Keesha said then she and Lucky walked out of Kelly's without another word to Jason.

Jason was so angry right now he couldn't see straight. This was not how he wanted to start his morning. He couldn't believe how badly he had lost his cool just now. Jason hadn't been that reckless about anything or anyone in years. Not since his first couple of weeks after the accident had he been so out of control. Keesha had stirred up something in him that he hadn't expected.

That made Jason wonder why was she here. Why now? Did it have something to do with Ric's shooting? Then he remembered that Keesha said something about a meeting. He was going to get to the bottom of what Keesha was in Port Charles and how this might all relate to Ric's shooting. To learn that information he was going to need someone who knew his way around a computer. He needed a jackal.

Jason opened up his cell phone and dialed Spinnelli's number. After several rings he heard what sounded like Spinnelli chewing on chips.

"Yes Stone Cold? What can the jackal do for you?" Spinnelli said.

"First, you can put the Barbecue chips down and the Orange soda. I told you not to eat those for breakfast anymore. They make you way to hyper and I need you to focus." Jason said.

"I'm sorry Stone Cold but you know they are my Kryptonite. My one true weakness in this world. When they call me I must head them and obey." Spinnelli said starting to ramble.

"Ok. Spinnelli. Spinnelli...Spinnelli! I need you to focus! Now shut up so I can tell you what I need for you to find for me." Jason said.

"My apologizes Stone Cold. How may I be of service to you?" Spinnelli said.

"I need all the information you can find on a Keesha Ward. I wanna know when she arrived in Port Charles and why she's here." Jason said.

"When do you need it?" Spinnelli asked.

"Yesterday. Call me when you are done. I gotta go see Sonny." Jason said then hung up his phone.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Keesha hadn't said a word in the car since leaving Kelly's. She wasn't in the mood for conversation and by the look on Lucky's face she could see that he felt the same way. They arrived at the PD a few minutes later and after delivering Mac his coffee they went straight to work.

Keesha and Pembrooke were working with the department's IT guys taking over one the conference rooms doing god knows what in there. Everytime Lucky and Rodriguez would try and look in they would only get a glimpse of whatever was going on in there.

One hour later Mac walked in the squad room where Lucky and Rodriguez were trying to finish up their reports.

"You guys almost done?" Mac asked. He was feeling much better since having his coffee.

"Yeah, I just finished my report and sent it out to you. So Mac, what's going in there?" Lucky said pointing over to the conference room. "I have been seeing people going in and out of the conference room all day. They were bringing in flat screen TV's, laptops,fax machines, and a couple of other pieces of equipment." Lucky said.

"I think they even brought the kitchen sink in there." Rodriguez said.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I haven't been briefed on what all the equipment is but two more people arrived this morning from the FBI asking for our conference room. Agent Ward said she will call us as soon as they are all set up." Mac said.

"How did all your phone calls with Mayor Floyd go this morning?" Lucky asked.

Mac held the bridge of his nose and felt his head start to hurt just thinking about all the hell Mayor Floyd put him through.

"Let's just say that I just got my hearing back a few minutes ago and a piece of my butt is missing too." Mac said.

"What does he want? We got there pretty quick and we are right on top of this case." Lucky said.

"He doesn't care about that. He cares about how this make him look. It's an election year so Ric's shooting came an inconvenient time for him. His words not mine. The only good thing the Mayor's doing is he's getting with the Feds and trying to get one of the Federal Prosecutors to come down and replace Lansing while he is recovering." Mac said.

"How long is that going to take?" Rodriguez asked.

"A while. In the mean time we will be getting a new hot shot DA from Manhattan. Some guy named Anthony Campbell." Mac said.

"He any good?" Lucky asked.

"If I go by what Mayor Floyd says then yeah he's good. We'll see how he does soon enough. He'll be here in a week." Mac said.

"I'll call some of my old NYPD contacts and see if I can get an idea on what this new DA will be like. See if he is cop friendly. Who knows, he may be an improvement over Lansing." Rodriguez said.

"Good. Let me know what you find out." Mac said.

Lucky looked over to see Keesha walking over towards them. He noticed she looked tired but better than she did in the car.

"Commissioner Scorpio, Detective's, we're ready. If you'll please follow me to the conference room." Keesha said.

All three men followed Keesha to the conference room eager to see what was behind door number #1. When they arrived at the front door Keesha handed them all key cards.

"You've been very busy bees haven't you?" Mac said.

"Yes, we have. Your IT people have been absolutely great. They never complained about any of the task we gave them. Unlike my partner, who complained the whole time. I owe your guys a big dinner. Ok, getting back to the task at hand. Due to the sensitive nature of the equipment in this room we are using key cards for entry. Only myself, Agent Pembrooke, the two analyst from the FBI, and the three of you will have access to this room. Why don't you all try your cards now. When you hear the beep you know that your card works." Keesha.

Mac, Lucky,and Rodriguez tried their cards and all three beeped.

"So that is what the black box in front of the door is for? I always wondered what is for whenever I passed by this door." Rodriguez said.

"The key cards are the exact reason why we picked this room. You can't get in or out without one."Keesha said.

"We've had them for a long time. The city had them installed years ago but never put them into use. It wasn't in the budget for them to get us all key cards they said." Mac said.

"The WSB picked up the tab to activate the key cards. It only took a push of a button for your IT people to get them running so that tells me your city could have activated them at anytime, they just didn't want to pay for the upkeep." Keesha said using her key card.

When Keesha open the door Lucky and the others followed her in and couldn't believe what they saw. The conference room was turned into a mini command center.

"Gentleman, welcome to Operation Take Downs Command Center. Let me give you a quick tour of everything." Keesha said.

Keesha first walked over to the four flat screen tv's. Each screen was marked for the angencies that would apart of the task force. Which were Interpol,NPA,Scotland Yard and Polizia di Stato. Under each screen was a computer terminal and fax machine that would be used to keep in constant contact with all these agencies. Keesha advised that the screens would be used to video conference with the agencies that are assigned to the task force. She then moved over to the two FBI analysts that were working with Pembrooke.

"These are our two FBI analyst Cates and Rodgers. They will be working on inputting all the data we collect and trying to help us find any similarities about our victims." Keesha said.

"Are guys going to sleep here too?" Rodriguez asked.

"No. They will each have twelve hour shifts and be staying at the Metro Court. After Keesha left there were some cancellations and they got rooms right away. Now, Cates will have the morning shift with Keesha while I will have the night shift with Rodgers. This will make sure that no information is missed." Pembrooke said.

"Will we get to learn how to use this equipment?" Lucky asked.

"Of course. You both will be getting a crash course on how all this works. Now since I will be working day shift and Doug on nights, we will need one of you to be assigned to us. That way if anything happens in town we will have local law enforcement that can show where everything is. I mean, I know the town hasn't changed to much but, there are some new places that even I'm unfamiliar with. So who wants to go where?" Keesha said.

"Days!" Lucky and Rodriguez both said.

"What!? No!" Rodriguez said.

"C'mon Cruz, I need days." Lucky said.

"So do I." Rodriguez said.

"For what?" Lucky asked.

"Because I hate nights. No offense Agent Pembrooke." Rodriguez said.

"None taken. I didn't want nights either." Pembrooke said.

"Cruz, you know I sometimes have the kids at night." Lucky said.

"You had to play the kid card didn't you? Fine. Fine. I'll call all my ladies and let them know if they need to see me it's going to have to be during the day." Rodriguez said.

"I'm sure they'll be all broken up." Lucky joked.

"You have no idea." Rodriguez said.

"Knock it off you two." Mac said while rolling his eyes.

As Keesha continued explaining what the rest of equipment was and what it was used for Rodriguez leaned over and whispered to Lucky.

"You owe me." he said.

"I know. Thanks man." Lucky said.

A beeping noise was coming from the computer terminals.

"What's that?" Mac asked.

"You'll see." Keesha smiled.

She walked over to a corner table where five wireless headsets sat. Keesha removed the headsets off their chargers and handed one to Lucky, Rodriguez, Mac, and Doug. She then placed hers on her head and told Lucky and the others to put them on.

"On the side of your headset is a button. Go ahead and press it. Once you've done that you should be able to hear each other." Keesha instructed.

Lucky and the others pressed theirs buttons and tried talking to each other.

"Can everyone hear each other?" Keesha asked.

Everyone but Lucky said yes.

"I can't hear anything." Lucky said.

"Did you press the button? It's the only one on the headset." Pembrooke said.

"Yes. I pressed it." Lucky said trying to hold some of his anger back.

"Let me take a look." Keesha said as she walked over to Lucky.

Keesha removed Lucky's headset and her fingers gentle touched the side of his head. She looked at his headset and found the problem right away. The volume was down. Once she turned it up she placed the headset back on and Lucky was able to hear everyone.

"There you go. See it just needed a women's touch." Keesha smiled.

"I know who else needs a women's touch." Rodriguez said softly to Lucky.

"Rodriguez! We can hear you." Mac said.

"Sorry, my bad." Rodriguez said after turning a shade of red.

"Just a note to all. These headsets are very sensitive and can pick up the smallest sound. Sooo, if you have to say something you don't want anyone to hear, just turn the headset off." Keesha said.

"Agent Ward, we are ready when you are." Cates said.

"Good. If you would all take your seats, we'll begin the de-briefing." Keesha said.

All four flat screens came to life and an image of each agencies shield appeared.

Rodgers quickly went around the table and passed everyone pens and paper.

"Send the signal we are ready." Pembrooke said.

As soon as Cates punched in some commands on his terminal the agency shields were replaced with the images of people.

Lucky looked at the first screen with the man from Interpol. He looked to be about the same age as Lucky. The man had clear blue eyes and blond hair that was cut short on the sides and short spikey hair on the top. Lucky thought the guy used to much gel in his hair. It looked so hard and stiff that if you touched it you might cut your finger. The man was wearing a white shirt, blue suspenders, and had on gold cuff-links. He looked more like a model than a cop.

"Good morning everyone or depending where you are good evening. Before we get started why don't we introduce ourselves. Doug and I know all of you but our friends here in Port Charles don't so we'll start with Interpol. " Keesha said.

" Keesha! It is lovely to see you again. You are still as beautiful as ever. Bon jour my friends. My name is Inspector Alec Le'Claire with Interpol. I'm stationed here in lovely Paris'. As you can see I have a lovely view of the Eiffel tower from my office which is the size of match box in case you were wondering. Now while we all are talking, I will be enjoying my coffee during this meeting from the best cafe in Paris. Please, feel free to envy me." Alec said with a heavy French accent.

Lucky looked at the Frenchmen and hated him already. He didn't like that Alec seemed all to familiar with Keesha.

"Always the charmer. I miss you too my friend. That coffee? Is it from that Cafe' Le'Claire?" Keesha asked.

"Of course. The wife would kill me if I went anywhere else." Alec laughed.

"Yes, she would. Now we move on to the NPA. "Oyasuminasai Nobu." Keesha said bowing.

"Ohayo Gozaymas everyone." she said then bowed. " My name is Officer Kikiyo Nobusaki but my friends call me Kikiyo or Nobu."

Rodriguez looked at the small women on the screen and thought she looked cute. She was wearing a white blouse with the top button undone. He could see that she was wearing some type of necklace that accent her outfit. Nobu looked to be at least the same height as Rodriguez or may be a half an inch shorter. Her long jet black hair was pulled into a tight bun much like the one Keesha was wearing. She had a little makeup on but Rodriguez quickly noticed her lips. He had never seen that shade of red Nobu was wearing before. It called attention to her petite lips. Not in a slutty way but in a very professional yet sexy way. Rodriguez looked at Nobu's eyes and could see that this women was not one to be messed when the time called for her to react. He also saw a playfulness dancing behind those dark drown eyes of hers. Rodriguez hoped one day to get to me the lovely Nobu.

" I'm a police officer with the Tokyo Police Department and have been assigned to the National Police Agency Investigations division while working with this case. Konichiwa and Doug." It is very good to see you both again. I'm just sorry that it always has to be under these circumstances." Nobu said.

"Good to see you again too Nobu." Pembrooke said smiling at Nobu.

"_Do my eyes deceive me? Did Pembrooke smile?" _Rodriguez wrote on his pad to Lucky.

" _He better be careful. His face might break from all that happiness."_ Lucky wrote back.

"Polizia di Stato your up next." Pembrooke said.

"Ciao. My name is Angelo Gilberti and I'm with the Polizia Di Stato headquartered in Rome. Doug is it very good to see you again. It has been way to long. Who is the lovely bella standing there?" Angelo said looking at Keesha.

"Her name is Agent Keesha Ward." Pembrooke said.

"I think this assignment just got better. Sei molto bella." Angelo smiled.

"Down tiger." Pembrooke said.

Lucky just added another guy to his stay away from Keesha list. He didn't like the way this Angelo guy looked at Keesha either. At least he knew that the French man was married but Lucky knew the look on this Angelo guys face. He saw Keesha as his next conquest. Lucky thought Angelo looked to causal for his meeting. Angelo's skin was bronze like he spent his time on the beach instead of writing reports all day. He also looked like he worked out and the tight white shirt short sleeve shirt he was wearing looked a size to small him and at any moment his shirt was going to explode and all this muscle would spill out. Show off Lucky thought.

As Angelo talked Keesha felt her cell phone vibrate. She looked and saw it was her private cell phone and there was a message on it. It was from Nobu.

"_The guy in the back keeps looking at you. I think he likes you." _Nobu wrote.

"_I think you are seeing things Nobu." _Keesha wrote back.

"_No, my friend. I'm very observant. He doesn't like the way Angelo is looking at you. Look now." __Nobu said._

Keesha slightly turned her head to see that Lucky was looking at her and had a small smile on his face. Then his attention turned back to Angelo and his smile completely disappeared and was replaced with a look of disgust.

"_He is kyu-to. Does he have a cute butt? :)" _Nobu wrote.

"_Kikiyo!"_Keesha wrote back.

"_Ha Ha! Yes, I'm a wariu neesan." _Nobu wrote.

"_Yes you are a bad girl. But he is cute right? And yes to your other question. It is very nice. :-)" _Keesha wrote.

"_Hai. Now who is being a wariu neesan? Let's get back to work before the boys notice. ;-)" _Nobu wrote.

Keesha put her cellphone away in time to see her friend from Scotland Yard was up next.

"Hello everyone. My name is Chief Inspector Ian McGuire with Scotland Yard. Keesha my love! It's been to long." Ian said.

"Good to see you two Ian. Like Nobu said, I wish it wasn't under these circumstances." Keesha said.

"Aye las, me too. We missed you this summer. The wife and I went back to Edinburgh for vacation and thought about you." Ian said.

"You guys are still making that treck?" Keesha smiled.

"Of course. I always find time to go home and visit the family. The wife is not fond of the drive but she knows. London is where I live because of work, but Scotland will always be my home." Ian said.

"Next year, I promise I will fly there s we can catch up."Keesha said.

"You all heard heard her. So she can't back out of it." Ian said then winked at Keesha.

"Ok, last but not least are our gracious Port Charles host." Keesha said.

"I'm Police Commissioner Mac Scorpio with the Port Charles Police Department." Mac said.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Robert Scorpio?" Angelo asked.

"Yes he is my brother." Mac said.

"He's a good man and if you're his brother than I'll enjoy working with you even more." Ian said.

Mac looked at Ian and chuckled to himself. He wondered if there wasn't anyone in the world that didn't know Robert.

"Thank you. You're up Lucky." Mac said.

"I'm Detective Lucky Spencer with Port Charles Police Department." Lucky said.

"Is your dad Luke Spencer?" Ian asked.

Lucky was almost afraid to answer.

"Yes he is." Lucky said.

"I knew it. I have many stories of your dad and Robert saving my tail then drinking the night away. As a matter of fact your dad still owes me money from that last time we went to the pub." Ian said laughing.

"You'll have to get in line sir. He owes a lot of people money." Lucky chuckled.

"Of that I have no doubt lad." Ian said laughing heartily.

Mac thought of the troubles those three could have gotten into and shook his head. He was glad to have Ian in this group. He didn't like the feeling that he was the old man of the group. Ian looked to be the same age or may just a year or two older then Mac. His reddish hair was peppered with grays. Ian had a very broad chest and little bit of a gut. Probably from one to many late night pub runs Mac thought. Despite his age Ian looked like he could still handle himself in a fight and if Mac had to pick anyone in the room to be his backup in a bar fight he would pick Ian. Ian also looked like he brought old school experience to the table and to Mac that was more valuable than any new piece of technology.

"Cruz, your up." Mac said.

"My name is Detective Cruz Rodriguez. I'm also with the Port Charles Police Department and partner to Detective Spencer." Rodriguez said.

"Now that we are all acquainted how about we get to work." Keesha said.

"Right. Ian we'll start with you." Pembrooke said.

"I wish I had more to give you but who ever did this was good and thorough. They didn't leave to much for us to process. Here is what we know. The victim's name is Lord Albert Dennison. The only way we know that is because of his dental records." Ian said.

"What happened to him?" Angelo asked.

"From what we have pieced together so far, Lord Dennison was at his home with his family. His wife and children went to bed at around 9:30pm. The last place his wife saw him was in his study. He told her that he had some research to finish up on a case and to not wait for him. She says that around midnight she thought she heard a noise like a thud but didn't think much of it because her husband is a klutz. When she woke up he still hadn't come to bed. She thought he must have fallen asleep in the study so she went to go get him. When she found the door locked she called one of the servants for a key. When they opened the door the study was a mess and there was blood all over the chair he was sitting in. She immediately called the police. Five hours later we found Lord Dennison's body in a field and it was badly burned. Prelims from the autopsy show that he was tortured for a long time. They believe that he was shot to death before they burned his body." Ian said.

"Do we know what he was doing research on?" Lucky asked.

"Or what cases he was working on?" Keesha asked.

"Not yet. Who ever the killer was destroyed the computer and damaged the hard drive. We have someone working on seeing if they can retrieve any information off of it. As far as his cases, his office said he wasn't working anything. That's all we have so far." Ian said.

"Thank you, Ian." Keesha said

"What do you have Nobu?" Pembrooke asked.

"Our victim was a women, Ikari Tanaka. She was a politician and a rising star in Tokyo. Miss Tanaka was recently dealing with victims rights issues and was very out spoken about she felt about the Yakuza and their crimimal organization at the time of her death. Her body was found in our warehouse and shipping district. It looks like that she too suffered. At first we thought the Yakuza had something to do with her death but my contacts say they had nothing to do with it." Nobu said.

"Anything left at the scene?" Rodriguez asked.

"There was not much physical evidence there Detective but, there was a symbol written on her head." Nobu said then held up a picture of the symbol for everyone to see.

"What does it mean Nobu?" Alec asked.

"It means Inferuno." Nobu said.

"Inferno?" Keesha asked.

"Very good Keesha. I see you are still keeping up with your Japanese." Nobu said.

Rodriguez nudged Lucky to look at his note.

"_Quite the worldly woman isn't she?" _Rodriguez wrote.

Lucky nodded his head yes then went back to listening to the conversation.

"Anything else Nobu?" Pembrooke asked.

"We believe that the killer was also about to burn the body but was interrupted. There was group of teenagers racing in the area illegally. One of the racers saw a dark figure pouring something that smelled like gasoline over something. When he yelled the person ran away. We have him in protective custody now." Nobu said.

"Was he able to see anything more?" Rodriguez said.

"He saw the killer jump into a black car and then they sped off. He got a partial plate. My people are checking out all plates that could be a possible match. I'm waiting to hear what they find." Nobu said.

"Was she tortured too?" Ian asked.

"We believe so. We are checking the warehouses along the row where she was killed but there are so many that it will take time. It looks like she was tortured somewhere then dumped to be burned near the docks." Nobu said

"What about her computers? Were they damaged too?" Lucky asked.

"Yes. A computer virus was put on her system and all the data has been corrupted. The virus is so bad that if we even try to analyze it on our systems it would cripple our whole system bring it down for weeks. We found that out the hard way when we tried downloading her files onto one of our laptops. It crashed the computer in seconds. So be careful when downloading any files. Make sure you tell your people that Ian." Nobu said.

"I'm letting them know right now love." Ian said while he was sending a text message to his people about the possible virus.

"Good. That's my report." Nobu said

"Alec, what do you have?" Keesha asked.

"Our victim is an ambassador. Ambassador Jean-Pierre Alcard. He was just appointed French Ambassador to Spain . He wasn't working anything at the time of his death except a vacation to Disney World in Florida for his family. Rumor has it that he only got the appointment because of his wife's family ties. I tend to believe the rumors on this one my friends." Alec said.

"Why is that?" Keesha

"Mon Dieu Keesha. I have held better conversations with a mime and I detest mimes. I think they should be banned from our streets. The way they silently follow you around is simply wrong..." Alec was about to continue on his rant when Keesha interrupted him.

"Alec, focus. What else do you have?" Keesha said.

"Sorry. What I was going to say is that, when I met him, he seemed very quiet and not very good with people. He had no personality, no flair, none of the qualities that would make him a good Ambassador. That is what makes this case even more frustrating because he doesn't seem to fit any pattern of what I just heard. The Ambassador was found at his Château. His wife said that he went up there early to relax and that she and the children would be meeting him in about two days. The servants went up to his room him because he had a phone call and that was when they discovered his bed covered with blood. They called us and we found his body in the same manner as Lord Dennison's about one mile away. Before you ask, yes we are searching his computer as well as the one at his office and home. I just sent a text message to my people about the virus. Merci Nobu for the information. That is all we have for now." Alec said.

"Angelo my friend, what does the Polizia di Stato have for us?"

"Our victim a Carlo Giovanni is a self made millionaire. He started out as a lawyer and then one day he decided no longer wanted to be a lawyer and branched into his first love which was making boats. The company started off small but grew in a multi-million dollar business. Now here is where the case takes an interesting turn. Carlo Giovanni was not found in his home or with his family. He was found at the residence a Miss Adriana Muliano. His mistress. She lives in the city Reggio-Emilia in the Calabria region. She was also found dead at the scene." Angelo said.

"How do we know it wasn't crime of passion? Maybe the wife found out and did them both in." Lucky said.

"That is what we thought too but the wife has a solid alibi. She was with her family in Bari sailing." Angelo said.

"Bari? In the Apulia region? They are no where near each other." Pembrooke said

"Right, and there were several eyewitnesses who can place her on the ship at the time of the murder. Not to mention that she seemed genuinely shocked when she was told that he was found at his mistresses home. She had no idea that he was sleeping around." Angelo said.

"Did she have any boyfriends? Maybe one of them found out and killed them." Mac asked.

"She had no boyfriends. Her neighbors say she kept mostly to herself and that her only visitors were her maid who also has a alibi and Giovanni." Angelo said.

"Were they both like the other bodies? Were they totured and then burned?" Nobu asked.

"Yes and no He was tortured she was not. Her death was quick and painless." Angelo said.

"I wonder why she was spared?" Keesha said.

"She's dead. I don't think she was spared in anyway." Doug said.

Keesha rolled her eyes at Doug. He was missing the point.

"No Keesha has a point." Lucky said. He knew where Keesha was going with her question.

"Aye. I think I see what you both are saying. All the others were tortured and burned but not her. Hers was painless. It doesn't fit." Ian said.

"So what made her different? Why did he suffer and not her?" Nobu said.

"That's the million dollar question." Rodriguez said.

"There was one other thing. It was something that Nobu said that made me remember." Angelo said.

"What is it?" Nobu asked.

"It was the symbol you showed us. When we got Giovanni's body to the morgue the medical examiner found a note inside his mouth. It was partial burnt but the word inferno was on it." Angelo said.

"Again with the word Inferno. It must mean something." Alec said.

"Just another clue to very large puzzle." Rodriguez said.

"Oui." Alec said.

"Anything else Angelo?" Pembrooke asked.

"Nothing else except that we are doing the full autopsy on Muliano today. Hopefully we will get a better idea of how she died and that may give a clue to who were are dealing with." Angelo said.

"Thank you Angelo. Port Charles PD, your turn."Pembrooke said.

Mac and Rodriguez motioned for Lucky to take the lead on this. Lucky really didn't like to be the center of attention but in this case he really had no choice but to be in the fore front of it all.

"Our victims name is Richard "Ric" Lansing. He is the District Attorney of Port Charles. From what we have been able to gather Ric was ambushed while walking to his car to go home. He had stayed late that night in his office for a reasons that are still the unknown." Lucky said.

"There is a major difference in this case than all the others." Keesha said.

"What would that be?" Angelo asked.

"Our victim is alive." Lucky said

"Alive!" Nobu said.

" Mon Dieu! He is alive? Have you spoken to him yet?" Alec asked.

"Yes he is alive, but barely. Ric is in a medically induced coma now. It was necessary to place him in this state due to the injuries he suffered." Lucky said.

"What exactly happened?" Ian said.

"Like I said, Ric was ambushed while he was walking to his car to go home. Somehow Ric was able to use his cell phone and dial 911 after being shot. The call went to our call center and it was dispatched right away. Rodriguez and I were at the station when we heard the call. We were close by so we also added ourselves to the call. I went to the garage while Rodriguez checked the lobby area. I must have interrupted the killer when I yelled police. All I got to see was a black car leaving the area." Lucky said.

"Another black car. How is he doing?" Nobu asked.

"Ric suffered two gun shot wounds. One to each leg. One bullet nicked the artery while the other damage his knee. He also was shot in the stomach and another gun shot wound to the shoulder and was hit in the face with a blunt object mostly like the butt of a gun. That blow caused a clot and it traveled to Ric's brain causing swelling. He was placed in the coma to allow his brain time to get the swelling down on it's own. The surgical team was outstanding and was able to repair the damage to his stomach and to the artery in his leg." Lucky said.

"Did he say anything before he was taken away?" Ian said.

"Nothing significant to the case." Lucky said. He felt there was no need to air Ric's private request if it wasn't on a need to know basis. Lucky felt it was the least he could do.

"But he did say something? What was it?" Pembrooke asked.

"Lucky just said it wasn't relative to the case." Rodriguez said turing to Pembrooke.

"Detective everything is relative to this case. The slightest phrase may be a key to solving this case. Now please, what did he say?" Pembrooke said.

Pembrooke was on Lucky's shit list now. He wanted to go over there and knock him on his ass.

"Lucky it's ok. Just tell them and let them judge for themselves." Mac said.

"He asked for his wife Alexis. He wanted me to contact her for him. They had been having some problems lately since she has been sick with cancer and were about to divorce. Look the man thought he was going to die and I think he just wanted to make some peace with a loved one. Now, does anyone think it's relative to the case?" Lucky said looking at Pembrooke.

"I think I speak for everyone hear when I say no. It's not relevant to the case." Ian said.

Lucky looked at everyone and could see they agreed with Ian and understood why Lucky wouldn't want to air that.

"I would just like to add that if it weren't for the quick response to the call by Detective's Spencer and Rodriguez ,DA Lansing may have met the same fate as all the others. Lucky was able render first aid until the paramedics arrived. Those few minutes he aided Ric may make all the difference in this case." Keesha said turning to Lucky and smiling.

"If he lives." Pembrooke said underneath his breath.

"We heard you. The mics are sensitive, remember?" Rodriguez said tapping the headset.

Doug turned a slight shade of red from his embarrassment and decided this would be a good moment to not say anything else.

"Good job lads. Well done." Ian said.

"Yes, well done." Alec said.

"We were just doing our jobs." Lucky said.

"Modesty? You must have gotten that from your mother." Ian laughed.

"Yes sir. That is definitely not a trait of my fathers." Lucky chuckled.

Lucky was about to say that's all they had when he looked down at Rodriguez's pad and saw something he forgot.

"Cruz, you want to talk about the other body that was found?" Lucky said.

"Sure. The second body we found was the night security guard. He was shot in the head and from what we can tell it happened very fast. He never even got the chance to draw his gun. We didn't find his body until we did a full sweep of the building and found his body in one of the broom closets on the first floor. Now, they do have surveillance in the building so we are hoping that the camera caught something." Rodriguez said.

"When will you be reviewing the tapes?" Angelo asked.

"Hopefully later on this afternoon or early this evening. The problem is that the building only has one person with access to the room. He was out of town at a conference for better security." Rodriguez said.

"How Ironic." Nobu said.

"Let me guess. He is also the only one who can operate the machine too?" Alec asked.

"Give the man a prize. Yes, he would be." Rodriguez said.

"Budget cuts. You gotta love 'em." Mac said.

"Are you sending someone to check out his computer's?" Ian asked.

"Not not yet. Ric's office and his home have been under guard since the shooting so we know his computers are safe until we get a tech out to retrieve the information from them." Lucky said.

"I suggest you hurry. The killer knows he made a mistake by leaving your DA alive and his computers intact. He might want to finish the job no matter what the cost." Alec said.

"Right. Mac?" Lucky said. When he turned to look at Mac he saw that Mac was already on his cell phone.

"Already on it." Mac said.

Keesha took her jacket off and walked over to the dry erase board that was near the flat screens. She wrote down the names of all the victims on the board. The ones that were dead she wrote in black. Ric's name she wrote in blue indicating he was alive.

"Alright people, we have seven victims. Out of the seven, two of them seem to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The other five were the intended targets. We know that they succeeded in killing four out of the five leaving one alive. The question is why? What makes these people such a threat that they had to be taken out? There has to be some kind of connection between them. We need to find out why...and soon." Keesha said.

"Keesha,what is your gut telling?" Ian asked.

"That this isn't over. It's just the beginning." Keesha said.

"Then you all know the drill. This becomes top priority for your agencies. Use all your resources. We need to get a handle on this before someone else gets killed. Also, I think I don't need to say it but I will. Keep. The. Press. Out. The last thing we need is to let these people know we are on to them and what we know. If they ask anything just tell them we are still investigating these incidents." Pembrooke said.

"I think we have covered as much as we can for now. How about we meet back here in a week at 0830 my time? Also, please make sure you send all the information on your pre lims findings to me asap." Keesha said.

"o8:30 it is and you will have all our findings shortly. Until then, Au revoir chére." Alec said.

"Au revior Alec. Tell Marie hello for me." Keesha said.

"I will." Alec said then his screen went black.

"My people are faxing over all we have now and I will also send the same information to your e-mail addresses." Angelo said.

"Good. Thank you Angelo. See you in a week my friend." Pembrooke said.

"Ciao Doug. And you Agent Ward...I cannot wait to see your beautiful face again. Buona Sera, my dear Keesha. Ah..molto bella." Angelo said with smile and his hand over his heart.

"Ciao, Angelo." Keesha said.

As soon as Angelo's screen went black Lucky rolled his eyes. He wrote on his pad then tapped Rodriguez so he could look.

"_Really hate that guy!"_Lucky wrote.

"_He's got game Lucky."_Rodriguez wrote.

"_I got game." _Lucky wrote.

" _No... you had game. If you want the attention of the "Bella" then you better get on the ball and step up your game."_ Rodriguez wrote.

"See you all in one week and just like everyone else I will send you all that we have." Ian said.

"Thank you Ian. Take care." Keesha said.

"Commissioner, Detectives, pleasure to meet you all. When this is all said and done we will have to get together for a pint and I will tell you some stories about Robert and Luke that will have you both in stitches. Keesha, take care love." Ian said smiling then turned Doug. "Pembrooke." Ian said as nicely as he could.

"Ian." Pembrooke said flatly.

Rodriguez wrote on the pad then tapped Lucky as Ian's screen went black.

"_Wonder what that was about?" _Rodriguez wrote.

"_Me too. We'll have to ask Keesha later."_Lucky wrote.

Nobu shook her head at Pembrooke. " You still have not apologized to Ian?" she asked.

Pembrooke smiled at Nobu. "There is nothing for me to apologize over. I was right and he was wrong. End of story." he said.

"Buru." Nobu said crossing her arms.

"It is not bull." Pembrooke said.

"One man's bull is another man's truth, eh Doug."Nobu said.

"Wow, that sounds really profound. Who said that?" Rodriguez asked.

"I did. You have my permission to use it anytime Detective. O-ke, I will fax you all that I have and if I find out anything before we meet I will let you know. See you in a week. Sayonara waga miuchi." Nobu said then bowed and her screen too went black.

"What did she say at the end?" Lucky asked.

"Good-bye my friends." Keesha said.

"I like her." Rodriguez said.

"I like her too. That's why she is my best friend. How about we take a break. It was a lot of information to process and I for one need to think about what I just learned." Keesha said.

"Sounds good to me." Lucky said.

"Well while you all are taking a much needed I need to let the Mayor know about what we have learned. Lucky, Cruz, keep me informed. Use whatever resources you need. This is your baby. I'll run the city while you two find this guy. I want him off my streets and if we can take his other crazy friends down too while were at then let's do it." Mac said.

"Yes,sir." Lucky said.

"You can count on us Mac." Rodriguez said.

"That's what I want to hear. One last thing, it's been along day for all of you. As soon as you get all the information we are waiting for I want you to take the rest of day off. " Mac said.

"Commissioner that 's not necessary. I'm fine." Keesha said.

"Yeah, Mac. Cruz and I are fine." Lucky said with Rodriguez nodding behind him.

"Thank you for your concern Commissioner but I think we can handle a few more hours of being awake." Pembrooke said.

Mac looked around the room at the eager faces before him. He admired their dedication and didn't question their willingness to do the job but he knew better. Tired cops make mistakes. They miss things that an otherwise alert person would have caught right away. This case couldn't afford mistakes right off the bat. So he knew he would have to get firm with them if he was going to make any kind of dent.

"You make it sound like it was a request. That was an order. Spencer, Rodriguez, you both have been up more than sixteen hours and the only thing that is keeping your engines running now is caffeine. Ward, Pembrooke, god only knows how long you two have been up. The point I'm trying to get across here is that you all need your rest because tired people make mistakes and we can't afford any mistakes on this one. Your dedication is duly noted and appreciated but I will not have people under my command who are not rested enough to do their jobs. Anyone who wants to fight me on this will be thrown off this case faster than they can blink. And don't even bother trying to go over my head. I have the advantage of being related to your boss so I'm pretty sure that he will have my back over yours. So, are my orders clear?" Mac said.

"Yes sir." everyone said.

"Good." Mac said as he walked towards the door. Before he exited Mac turned back around and spoke.

"If Agent Ward is right, and this is just the beginning, then cherish this day off. Because it may be the last one you have for a long time." Mac said then exited the door.

The room fell silent when Mac left. Everyone looked at each other knowing that Mac was right. They all were tired and a fresh perspective would help out.

Lucky looked at his watch and didn't realize how much time had passed since starting the debriefing. It was now late in the afternoon. Way passed lunch time and very close to dinner.

"Well on that note. I'm going to take my break. We can look at the faxes and sort through them out afterwards then call it a night." Lucky said.

"Cool. I got some phone calls to make so I'll see you guys back here in ten minutes." Rodriguez said.

"Ok ten minutes it is." Keesha said.

"You guys go ahead. I see the faxes are starting to come in. By the time you come back from your break they should all be in." Doug yawned out.

"You sure Doug? You sound like you need a break too." Keesha said.

"I do but, the quicker we do this, the quicker I can get to dinner and my nice big suite." Doug said with a smile.

Keesha nodded her head while she inwardly rolled her eyes at Doug. She would have to speak to Robert when this assignment was over about never pairing her with Doug again.

Lucky and Rodriguez walked out of the room and headed out towards the break room. When Lucky walked in he immediately went towards the soda machine. He was tired of coffee and wanted another source of caffeine to keep him awake. Rodriguez on the other hand wanted coffee and made a bee line for the steaming hot pot of coffee he saw. He grabbed a cup and poured the coffee in letting the steam from it hit his face waking him up a little more. Rodriguez took a sip of the coffee and almost spit it out. It tasted terrible.

Lucky saw the look on his partners face and knew that coffee was not up to his standards.

"That's why I went for the soda. Day shift can't make coffee to save their lives." Lucky said.

Rodriguez shook his head. "Yeah I know but I really need caffeine and soda just doesn't have that same kick for me like coffee does." he said.

"You are just addicted to the stuff." Lucky said.

"You say it like that's a bad thing." Rodriguez said.

Lucky took a seat at the table inside the break room put his head down. Rodriguez took the seat next to him and took another sip from his crappy coffee.

"So what do you think partner?" Lucky asked.

"I think we are in for a rough ride on this one. At first I thought the Feds would be a problem and get in our way. Now I'm glad they are here. After what we just heard I think we are going to need all the help we can get." Rodriguez said.

"I'm glad the Feds are here too. I think we will get a lot more accomplished with them here than we would have if they weren't ." Lucky said.

"Are you glad both Feds are hear or just one in particular?" Rodriguez asked looking at Lucky with his eye brow raised.

Lucky looked at Rodriguez and smiled.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Lucky said.

"Yeah right. Admit it Lucky. You like her." Rodriguez said.

Lucky got up from his seat and walked over to the wall and stood against it. He pushed his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath.

"I don't know man. I haven't seen Keesha in years. I mean the last time we really spoke to each other we were in high school together and I lived in her grandmothers house with my family. I was just starting to go out with Elizabeth when she was going out with Jason." Lucky said.

Rodriguez sat up a little straighter in his chair. "Whoa. Hold up. Are you telling me she went out with Morgan back in high school?" he asked.

"Yes and no. In High School he was Jason Quartermain. The golden boy who could do no wrong. Keesha and Jason Quartermain were really serious from what I can remember. Hell I thought they were gonna get married. They made a cute couple. Well all that changed when he had his car accident." Lucky said.

"You mean the one that caused his brain injury? I never got the full story on that." Rodriguez said.

"All I know is that his brother AJ was drinking and went driving with Jason in the car. There was an accident and while AJ walked away fine Jason was left in a coma. He woke up and went from golden boy Quartermain to bad boy Jason Morgan over night due to the brain injury. I don't know what really happened to them after that. I know they had a really bad falling out then she left town. The next time I saw Keesha was at Justice's funeral. He was her cousin and they were real close. She didn't stay long after the service. Edward said she was pretty broken up about his death and needed to leave." Lucky said.

"Wow. I didn't know all of that. Man, she has got some serious ghost in this town. Well at least she didn't run into Morgan yet." Rodriguez said.

"Um..yeah she did. When we went to Kelly's to pick up Mac's coffee. He came in the shop. It wasn't pretty." Lucky said.

"Damn! I missed that. What happened at Kelly's?" Rodriguez asked.

"Jason wanted to talk and Keesha didn't. He wasn't going to let her leave and I stepped in and told him to back off basically. Then we left." Lucky said.

"That can't be all that happened?" Rodriguez said.

"I'm afraid so my friend. Other than the stare down Morgan and I had that Lulu had to break up, nothing else happened." Lucky said.

"So you rode in and saved the damsel in distress huh?" Rodriguez chuckled.

Lucky chuckled. "Keesha was far from the damsel in distress. She could have held her own against Jason. I was more like backup for her." Lucky said.

"So you do like her?" Rodriguez asked.

"How did you get that I like her from that?" Lucky asked.

"Because I'm a Detective remember. My job is to follow the clues. Clue one that you like her. You practically drooled over her at the airport when you saw her. Clue two that you like her. You offered to let her stay at your house." Rodriguez said.

"At your urging." Lucky tried to protest.

Rodriguez ignored Lucky's protest and waived him off.

"Don't even try it. You could have easily let her stay with Pembrooke and let her wallow in misery on the couch. But, you stepped up, and offered to let her stay in your big empty house. Now clue three that you like her, you went toe to toe with Jason for her. In my book that all equals you like her." Rodriguez said.

Lucky shrugged. "Alright, alright. You want me to admit it. Fine I like her. I like her a lot. I haven't seen the women in years but I feel like there could be something between us and I want to get to know more about her. Now what do your clues say about that?" Lucky said.

Rodriguez was about to answer when he heard something he didn't expect to hear.

"They say you let me make dinner for you as a thank you for letting me stay in your big empty house and for being my knight in shining armor with Jason."

Lucky and Rodriguez both looked at each other shocked. Then remembered. How in the hell could they have forgotten to take off the damn headsets before they left the room? They both cursed underneath their breath.

They heard Keesha giggle in their ears.

"Now boys. I told you the mics are sensitive." Keesha joked.

Lucky didn't want to ask the next question but he had to know. "Keesha, how much did you hear?"

"All of it." Keesha said.

"Oh god." Lucky groaned.

"Cruz, shut your headset off please." Keesha said.

"Yes ma'am." Rodriguez said then shut his headset off.

"I didn't want your partner to hear this part and don't worry. Doug took his headset off long before you two started talking." Keesha said.

"Well thank god for that. Am I in trouble?" Lucky said.

"Far from it Lucky. I wanted to tell you that I feel the same way as you. I felt that same connection at the airport." Keesha said.

Lucky smiled. He was glad that Keesha felt the same vibe he did. "So what do we do now?" Lucy asked.

"I have no clue. I suck at relationships." Keesha laughed.

"Why don't we talk over dinner." Lucky said.

"Sounds good. Now bring your headsets back so we can finish up this work." Keesha said.

"We'll be right there and Keesha..." Lucky said.

"Yes Lucky?" Keesha asked.

"Thanks for being a good sport about this." Lucky said.

"Now what kind of damsel would I be if I got upset with my knight?" Keesha said.

Lucky took off his headset and looked at Rodriguez who had turned a bright shade of red. That was twice today that happened.

"So are we dead?" Rodriguez asked.

"Nah. She was really cool about things." Lucky said shutting off his head set.

"Good. That's the second time today I put my foot in my mouth with her."Rodriguez said.

"I'm sure it won't be the last." Lucky joked.

"Oh ha ha. Let's go give these headsets back and sort out that paperwork because I'm tired and I my bed is calling me and I still got some phone calls to make. Plus, the faster we do this, the faster someone can go on their date." Rodriguez said.

"That's right. My thank you dinner awaits." Lucky said as they started to head out the break room.

Lucky was about to head out first when he stopped.

"Cruz, thanks for the push man." Lucky said.

"You really wanna thank me? Then get Keesha to hook me with Nobu. She is hot! I wonder how they say hot in Japanese?" Rodriguez said.

"I'll ask her at dinner." Lucky said.

"My man. Always looking out for me. C'mon, let's go get this paperwork done." Rodriguez said slapping Lucky on the back as they went down the hall to the Command Center to finish up their work.

-TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey Everyone! Sorry this took me a little long to post. I'm working on three other stories besides this one and I have writers block with the other ones. This story thanks to the urging of my friend Charlie Murphy has my mind quite occupied and has been getting all of my attention. I hope you like this chapter. It's all Keesha and Lucky in this chapter. The next chapter which I'm editing now has to do more with Ric. Who by the way will be getting a most unexpected visitor in that chapter. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. It's get a little hot and heavy towards the end. I barely put my pinky toe across the line M line. Enjoy and as always Happy Reading and let me know what you think.**

**Oh yeah.. I don't own any of the characters or the show...yada.. yada..yada..**

_Previously On General Hospital_

_"Yeah. I'm just not sure I wanna look at this part of my past." Jason said._

_Spinneli picked up the folder and opened to the first page which was a picture of Keesha._

_"I guess if she were my past I would be hesitant to revist it as well. But to know ones past, is to know ones future Stone Cold. If you want to move forward you must look back." Spinnelli said handing the folder to Jason._

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Oh no we are going to get all wet." Keesha said looking out the car window.

Keesha and Lucky were sitting in Lucky's car with bags of groceries in the truck. They had just finished getting the items from the store that Keesha needed to make diner when they were caught in a rain storm on the way home.

"A little water won't hurt you. C'mon we can make it." Lucky said.

"I won't get hurt but my hair...that's a different story." Keesha laughed pointing to her hair.

Lucky shook his head and sighed.

"Stay right here." Lucky said.

"Where are you going? It's pouring outside. We can just wait it out in here." Keesha said.

"Oh no. I'm starving and I don't wanna stay in this car all night. It's summertime Agent Ward and you must have forgot how it gets when it rains here. It's never a passing shower. I'll go and get the umbrella from inside the house. You just sit tight and I'll be back in jiffy." Lucky said.

Before Keesha could say another word Lucky opened his car door and ran to the house. She could barely see him through her window and wasn't even sure Lucky made it to the house. Then she saw a figure come towards the car with something large and black over him. Her car door opened and there stood a half drenched Lucky holding a large black umbrella over him.

"This should keep you dry for now." Lucky said reaching in the car with his free hand.

"How gallant of you." Keesha said taking his hand and exiting the car.

Keesh felt Lucky pull her closer to him under the umbrella. She looked over to him and he smiled.

"It's just so we can fit better under here." Lucky said almost blushing.

"I know. I trust you." Keesha said.

Suddenly a huge gust of wind blew the umbrella out of Lucky's hand. They both watched as the umbrella went rolling down the street.

"Well, how about we get those bags out of the car?" Keesha said.

"What about your hair? Don't you want to get inside?" Lucky asked.

"What? A little water won't kill me right? C'mon." Keesha said shrugging her shoulders.

They both quickly ran back over to the car and grabbed the bags out of the trunk. Then as fast as they could they sprinted to the house. Once they were under the cover of the front porch Lucky pushed open the already open door with his foot so they could both get in. They walked into the house towards the kitchen and placed the bags on the table.

"How about we get out of these wet clothes and then I'll start dinner?" Keesha said.

"Sounds good to me. I'll just put the groceries away and then I'll change." Lucky said.

"Ok. I'll be down in twenty minutes." Keesha said.

Lucky watched as Keesha left the kitchen and was enjoying the view of her on way out. While putting the groceries away Lucky kept wondering what kind of meal Keesha was going to make. She had bought so many different things and every time he would ask she would say you'll see.

When the groceries were finally put away Lucky took out the pots and pans he thought Keesha would need. Since he wasn't sure what she was making he just took all of them out. Lucky heard Keesha start to come down the stairs and cursed underneath his breath for not being changed himself.

Keesha walked down the stairs feeling more relaxed now then she has felt all day. She managed to take a quick shower and that helped wash some of today's pain away. She picked out her favorite downtime clothing. She was wearing a Manchester United soccer shirt that Ian gave her when he dragged her to her first soccer match and some jeans. She felt like she was finally herself. Not Agent Ward of the WSB but just plain old Keesha. When she walked in to the kitchen she found Lucky still in his wet clothes. He looked so adorable trying to find items in the kitchen she might need to make dinner. The problem was he found too much for her and there were pots everywhere.

"Thank you for finding some pots for me. I think I can take it from here. Why don't you change out of those wet clothes before you get pneumonia and while you do that I'll start dinner." Keesha said.

"Ok. Do you need help finding anything else?" Lucky asked.

"If I need anything I'll call you. Now go." Keesha said.

"Are you going to tell me what you're making?"Lucky asked before leaving the kitchen.

"No. Now scoot." Keesha said chuckled.

"Yes, ma'am." Lucky said then raced out the kitchen and up the stairs to change.

Keesha turned back around to the unintentional mess Lucky started. She cleared out the pots she didn't need then started working on dinner.

Thirty minutes later Lucky came down the stairs all showered and shaved. The shower helped clear Lucky's mind and bring him some focus with Keesha. He wasn't going to rush things with Keesha, just take it one day at a time. After all, they may not even have time for a relationship with this case so there was no need to put the cart before the house.

When Lucky reached the bottom step his nose was treated to a variety of wonderful aromas. It had been a long time since he had a home cooked meal and the house smelled like it used to when Elizabeth lived there. Lucky walked in the kitchen and saw Keesha stirring something in a pot and tasting it. He watched her find her way around the kitchen like someone who had been living in the house for years. Lucky saw that Keesha was trying to reach something in the spice rack that was too high for her and walked over to help her reach it.

"Can I help you get something?" Lucky said walking up behind Keesha.

"Yes, I need garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano." Keesha said.

"No problem." Lucky said as he grabbed the spices for Keesha.

Lucky handed the spices over to Keesha and she quickly put them in the pot she was stirring then closed the lid before Lucky could see what it was inside.

"Wow that smells good." Lucky said.

"It better, otherwise I'm losing my touch. Now why don't you set the table. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes." Keesha said.

Lucky walked over to the cupboard and started to grab some of the dishes out of it to set the table. He looked at them and changed his mind thinking they didn't quite match the feel of tonight. He thought this occasion deserved something special, so while Keesha's back was turned to the stove he grabbed the good set of plates he used to use when Elizabeth and he would have special dinners together. He thought that if he was moving on so should they and what a perfect way to start a new life for him and these plates than dinner with a beautiful women. Lucky quickly grabbed the plates and some wine glasses and went over to the table. He grabbed a tablecloth out the closet an put it on the table in the living room.

As Lucky set up the table with the plates and glasses he also grabbed the candles and the candle holders off of the mantle over the fire place and put them on the table. He lowered the lights a little in the living room with the dimmer and lit the candles. There he thought. The right atmosphere was created and the table looked great.

Keesha put her dinner in one of the nice bowls that Lucky had in one of the cupboards. The bell went off on the stove and she grabbed the last item out of the oven and put that on flat plate. She ran over to the cupboard and found a salad bowl. Keesha grabbed the salad bag she bought in the store and dumped the contents in the bowl.

"Sorry grandma. I know you would be yelling at me right now for using this bag but it was short notice." Keesha said.

She grabbed the tongs and some salad dressing from the fridge and walked out to the living room. Keesha was shocked to find that Lucky had put out his good dishes and lit some candles. Everything looked so beautiful.

"Lucky everything looks wonderful." Keesha said.

"Thank you. Is there anything I can help you with? Can I bring out something?" Lucky asked.

"Nope. I got it." Keesha placed the salad bowl on the table then hurried back in the kitchen and grabbed the main course. She put the main course down in the middle of table and put a towel underneath it.

Lucky pulled out Keesha's chair for her and she sat down. Keesha thanked him and then Lucky took his seat. Once Keesha saw that Lucky was comfortable she told Lucky to lift the lid.

Lucky lifted the lid off the pot and looked inside and saw Keesha made him Tortellini Carbonara. It smelled so good. He felt his stomach screaming at him to dig in.

"You made this from scratch?" Lucky asked.

"The sauce mainly. Everything else was store bought. What do you say we dig in?" Keesha said.

"I thought you'd never ask." Lucky said.

Keesha looked around the table and saw that she forgot a spoon to take the food out. She rushed back in the kitchen and grabbed a big spoon and the flat plate and walked back out.

Lucky stood back up when Keesha walked back in and noticed that she was bringing out a plate of garlic bread.

"Man, you went all out." Lucky said.

"When I do something I like to give it my all." Keesha said.

Lucky raised an eyebrow at her and Keesha smiled. He pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down before he took his seat again.

"Wow, I haven't had a guy pull out my chair since prom. You have impeccable manners Lucky." Keesha said.

"Well I got them from my mother and having a prince for a brother does help. His manners rubbed off on me." Lucky said.

"Brother? Oh that's right Nikolas Cassadine. I remember before I left you just found out about him." Keesha said.

"Yeah, it was rocky between us at first but we have come along way since those days. Before we start let me get one last thing." Lucky said.

Lucky went into the kitchen and walked over to the small wine rack on the side of the cupboard near the stove. Inside there was one lone bottle of wine Nikolas gave him. He pulled the bottle out then walked back int to the living room and placed the bottle on the table before he sat down.

Keesha picked up the bottle of wine and tried to read the label but could only make out some the words on it.

"Greek? I can only make out some of the words." Keesha said placing the bottle back on the table.

"Don't ask me. I can't read a thing on the bottle. All Nikolas told me was that it had a sweet taste and that it's red wine from Crete. I trust his judgment when it comes to his taste in wines. We'll just let it sit for a but then open it up. Now I believe you said something about digging in?" Lucky said.

"Yes I did. I'm starved and that garlic bread is calling me. Hand me your plate and I'll serve." Keesha said. Lucky handed Keesha his plate and she plated some the food on it.

Lucky looked at his plate and couldn't believe how wonderful everything looked and smelled. He was completely blown away by the taste when he put his fork in his mouth.

"Keesha, this is...wow. I can't believe how good this is."Lucky said.

"I'm glad you think so Lucky." Keesha said.

After a couple of minutes of silence while they enjoyed their food Lucky thought it would be a good time to learn all about Keesha.

"So Keesha, tell me about what you have been up to. I wanna hear what you have been doing since you left Port Charles." Lucky said.

"You mean when I left the first time or after Justice's funeral?" Keesha asked.

Lucky saw the look on Keesha's face like this was still a sore subject to deal with. He wanted to know all he could about Keesha but not if it was going to bring up painful memories.

"If it bothers you Keesha we can talk about something else. Anything you want?" Lucky said.

Keesha smiled at Lucky's thoughtfulness. She didn't understand how a guy like this was still single.

"It's ok Lucky. Yes, there are somethings in my past that I'd rather not think about. Justice's funeral being one of them of course,but there are plenty of other things in my life that I enjoy talking about. Now, what would you like to know?" Keesha said.

"Everything." Lucky said as he took another bite of his food.

"Everything huh? It's really not that impressive." Keesha said.

"Let me be the judge of that." Lucky said.

"Ok, you asked for it." Keesha said as she sighed and took another bite of her food.

"When I left Port Charles the first time I needed to get my act together, so after enough urging from Justice and Edward I decided to attend college. Edward wanted to me to go to a university like Harvard or Princeton so I could major in Business then come to work for him at ELQ. I think it was his own way of honoring Uncle Bradley."Keesha said.

"Bradley? Edward's son right? Justice's dad?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah. I don't really remember him but Justice loved him and got into law because of him. It was Justice that told me he would like if I followed his foot steps and went into law. He said we could have our own law firm and continue the work grandma and Uncle Bradley started. At first I was gun-ho about it because I always admired Justice's passion of the law and how he used it to help people in the neighborhood. I started looking around for schools and I found one that suited me and one that was for enough away from Port Charles and my problems." Keesha said.

"What school did you go to?" Lucky asked taking a bite out of his garlic bread.

"I went to Howard University and majored in law. Then a funny thing happened while I was there." Keesha said.

"What was that?" Lucky asked.

"I found out that I hated law." Keesha laughed.

"What? You hated it?" Lucky asked.

"God! Ugh! The classes where soooo boring. I feel asleep in my first lecture earning the wraith of my law professor who told me that I would wind up making fries for a living if I continued to sleep my way through class and life. That made me so mad that I walked out of class. After I cooled down, I got what he was trying to say and knew that this was not the right field for me. I knew that I wanted to help people but just not as a lawyer. I felt like my calling was somewhere else. After a long talk with my guidance counselor she suggested criminal justice or political science thinking they might suite me better. I agreed and against my counselor's wishes I majored in both and for fun minored in French." Keesha said.

"Wow. You had the full class load. What did you do for fun?" Lucky asked.

"Fun? Who had time?" Keesha laughed. "No, I made time. I did some plays,joined student government, even studied aboard." Keesha said.

"Where did you go when you studied abroad?" Lucky asked as he opened the bottle of wine.

"Japan." Keesha said.

"Ah, now the picture is starting to come together. That's where you met Nobu?" Lucky said.

"Yes and we have been best friends every since. I learned so much from when I was there. I thought I was ready for the world because I was in college and being on my so called own, but when I went to Japan and was really on my own, I quickly found out that I was no way near ready. Being in a different country, not knowing the language, or the customs, was a major..."

"Culture shock?" Lucky finished Keesha thought.

"Big time." Keesha said reaching for the wine bottle.

Lucky stood up and told Keesha to sit back down while he poured the wine for her and then himself.

"Thank you Lucky." Keesha said then took a sip the wine. The taste was sweet and very fruity. She couldn't recall every having something like it before. "Lucky, please tell your brother he has exquisite taste in wines. This was an excellent compliment to dinner." Keesha said taking another sip.

"I will. He'll be happy to know I finally opened it." Lucky said taking a sip of the wine.

"How long have you had it?" Keesha asked.

"Too long for his liking." Lucky said taking another sip. "Now, you were saying you were in Japan."

"Um hm. I was there for a semester and loved it. If it weren't for Nobu and her family putting me up I would have never made it. I learned so much and it opened up the world for me. Hell it opened up the world to me. The only other place I had every been was Paris.... and that was a life time ago." Keesha said wistfully.

"You went to Paris? Is that how you met Alec?" Lucky asked.

Keesha squirmed in her chair a little. That was still a bit of a touchy subject for because it had to do with Jason. Lucky caught her look and knew something must have happened in Paris that still made Keesha upset. Change the subject quick he thought.

"Uh...so what happened after your semester was over in Japan?" Lucky asked trying to change the subject and keep the conversation on track.

"You didn't have to do that Lucky." Keesha said softly.

"Do what?" Lucky said claiming ignorance.

"Change the subject." Keesha said.

"I have no clue what you are talking about Agent Ward. Now, I believe we were still talking about your semester in Japan." Lucky smiled then took another sip of his wine.

Keesha smiled and shook her head. It was very nice of Lucky to do that for her.

"Well after my semester in Japan, I came back to the states with a renewed sense of urgency to see the world and all it had to offer. I studied my ass off. When I graduated, I was at the top of my class and had schools from all over trying to get me to attended their criminal justice graduate programs. Justice and Edward came to my graduation and they both were so proud of me. It was one of the best days of my life. After graduation I choose to come back to New York and attend NYU. I got my masters from there in criminal justice and foreign affairs. I decided that my next step after graduate school was to try and get into the FBI so I started applying to the FBI academy. Three weeks after I sent in my application I got a phone call that changed my life." Keesha said.

"From Robert?" Lucky asked.

"No. It was from Justice actually. He called to tell me that he got a new job and was coming to meet me in Manhattan and tell me all about it before I heard about it from someone else. I met Justice that day in Central Park by the Bethesda Fountain and we walked to a near by restaurant. We sat down and talked a bit and I could see that he was really nervous about something. I told him he could tell me anything and that I would understand because we where family. He kept saying that I wasn't going to like it and that I was going to hate him. I finally told him to spit it out because he was scaring me. That's when he told me he was working for Sonny." Keesha said.

"It was a shock to everyone when Justice started working for Sonny. What did you do when you found out?" Lucky said.

"I never let Justice explain to me why he started working for Sonny. At the time I didn't care to know why. I just took my water and threw it in his face and left the restaurant without another word. Walking back to my apartment I knew then that it was my job to get people like Sonny off the streets. I hate him and everything he stands for. He has a away of making the most sane people see that his crazy crime ridden world is the way to go. I just don't understand it and I hope I never do." Keesha said taking a gulp of her wine as Lucky looked on.

"Anyway, when I got home my phone was ringing and I almost didn't answer it thinking it was Justice trying to talk to me. I picked up the phone started yelling then stopped when I heard an Australian accent on the other line laughing at me."Keesha said.

"Enter Robert Scorpio." Lucky said.

"Enter he did. After he laughed at my tirade and told me he liked a women with a little fire in her, he told me that my application was passed on to him by a friend of his at the FBI and that a women with my skills should be working for him and not the FBI. He told me if I wanted a really job to report to his office in two hours. I was there in one. He was impressed. We talked and an hour later I was a member of the WSB." Keesha said.

"Is that how you met Alec and Ian?" Lucky asked.

"Uh huh. After my very extensive training with Robert, my first assignment was in England with Ian and Scotland Yard trying to take down an illegal arms dealer who used to be with the IRA. He was now dealing to some African rebels. During my assignment I stayed with Ian and his wife who treated me like a daughter while I stayed there. It was the first time in a long time that I allowed myself to feel like I was apart of someones family since that day in the restaurant with Justice. It felt really good. After the arms dealer was brought in and Robert was happy with the progress I was making, he asked if I wanted to stay there for a while. I agreed and stayed between Scotland and England for two years. Then I was transferred to France where I met Alec and his wife. Robert thought since I took French in school that I should put it to good use." Keesha said.

"Alec looks like he takes a little getting used to." Lucky said not hiding his dislike for the man.

Keesha laughed. "Don't tell me his French charm rubbed you wrong way?

"No, it didn't." Lucky said flatly.

"Your first impression of him is all wrong. Alec really is a sweet heart and his wife Marie is the sweetest person I have ever met. I would definitely put her and Nobu up there as my two best friends. Alec and I got into some major scrapes while I was in Paris. I trust him with my life." Keesha said.

"What kind of things did you get into?"Lucky asked.

"Well, there was this one time where we were trying to bust a prostitution ring that was using an escort service as a front and I had to go undercover as one of the girls. I didn't know it, but the mic I was wearing stop working so Alec and his team had no way of know what was going on. Inside the room the guy I was with started getting a little rough with me when I wasn't doing what he wanted. I gave the code to come in but Alec and his team didn't hear it. Luckily, Alec knew that something wasn't right and had his men storm the building. When Alec and his men burst threw the door the guy grabbed me and put a knife to my throat. Alec ordered the guy to put the knife down but the guy wanted to show Alec he was in charge and started to push the knife a little harder against my throat causing me to bleed a little. He started to say that he was going to kill me if Alec didn't let him leave." Keesha said.

"What did Alec do?" Lucky asked getting caught up in the story.

"He shot me." Keesha said grabbing the wine and pouring it in her glass.

Lucky almost spit out the wine he was drinking.

"He shot you?! What the hell for?" Lucky asked.

"I told him to." Keesha said taking sip of her wine.

"You told him too? What did you guys watch the movie Speed the night before?" Lucky asked.

"As a matter of fact yes. We watched that and Dirty Harry. Alec had never seen either move so we picked them up the night before." Keesha said.

"Well how did you guys make it happen? I mean didn't the guy know what you were planning?" Lucky asked.

"Well the guy who had me spoke only French. He didn't speak a word of English. I told Alec to remember the scene in Speed with the hostage and removing them from the equation. He didn't want to but he saw the guy was getting antsy. Alec told me he was sorry and then I felt the bullet go through my shoulder and I went down." Keesha said.

"What did the guy do?" Lucky asked.

"Idiot still tried to charge Alec with the knife. Alec shot him twice killing him. When Alec made sure the guy was down he called the paramedics in for me. While we waited for the ambulance to arrive Alec told me to never do that again. I agreed and told him that wasn't one my best ideas. When word got back to Robert about what happened he was not happy. He made sure I was alright first then chewed my ass out and told me to never pull a stunt like that again or he'll shoot me in my other shoulder. Needless to say I never did that again. After another year in Paris I was shipped to Japan and got partnered with Nobu. She was working a murder case and they needed some help from the WSB. I volunteered to go and Robert was all for it when I told him I knew the officer working the case and the area. It took several months before we caught the guy. It was a hard case but working with Nobu and staying with her again made it a whole lot easier. At the end of the case I was going to be asked to be assigned permanently to the Tokyo office but Robert wanted me to come back to the states for some more training. At first I was reluctant to come back to the states but Robert was very persuasive, so I came back and worked with him in Washington." Keesha said.

Keesha looked at the food and realized the food was getting cold and perhaps they should put it up.

"Maybe we should put the food away. I'm sure it's getting cold while I'm telling my life story. Unless you want more?" Keesha said.

"No I'm done. It was excellent. I'm glad that we will have some left for tomorrow. I will have to leave some at the station so Cruz knows what he missed out on." Lucky said.

Keesha started to get up and help clear off the table when Lucky waived her back down.

"You cooked, I'll clean up." Lucky said as he started to clear off the table.

"Please let me help. Besides, with the two of us cleaning it will all be done so much faster." Keesha said.

"Ok, but you have to finish your story. Deal?" Lucky said.

"You sure I'm not boring you?" Keesha asked as she picked up the plates.

"Not at all. Now I believe you were saying that you were coming back to the states." Lucky said heading back into the kitchen with the food.

"Yes. I came back and started working in Washington under Robert. At first I didn't like it because of all the politics and how cut throat people could be, but I think that's what Robert wanted me to learn." Keesha said following Lucky in the kitchen with the dishes.

"So he wanted you to play with the big dogs?" Lucky said putting the food away in the fridge.

"More like scrap with them. I learned very quickly how to fight for what I needed. I got a lot of bruises in some of those fights, I'd like to think that my opponents left with more then I did." Keesha said.

While he was making room in the fridge, Lucky noticed two small bowls in the fridge filled with something that looked like chocolate. He hadn't seem them before and pulled out one and showed it to Keesha.

"What's this?" Lucky asked.

"That is dessert. It's chocolate mousse. I hope you like chocolate." Keesha said putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

"You had time to make dessert too?" Lucky asked.

Keesha shrugged and smiled. She walked over to the fridge and looked at the dish Lucky had in his hand. "Looks like that one is not quite done yet." She reached in and looked at the other dish. "This one is ready. You can have it." Keesha said.

"How about we share it? This looks to good to eat alone and beside I'm trying to watch my figure." Lucky joked.

Keesha laughed. "Well since you put it that way. I'll share it with you. Just put that one back so it can chill some more." Keesha said then headed back out of the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

Lucky put the bowl back in the fridge than went back to help Keesha.

The two of them talked some more while they cleaned the table and then moved back into the kitchen to clean the pots that Keesha has used to make dinner and dessert. The more Keesha talked, the more Lucky wanted to hear her voice. He kept asking questions just to keep her talking. Lucky washed the pots while Keesha dried them and put them away. It felt nice and kind of intimate to do this Keesha Lucky thought. Once they were all done and everything was put away Lucky went to the fridge and pulled out the chocolate mousse while Keesha grabbed two spoons out of the draw then they both went back into the living room.

"Why don't we move over to the couch." Lucky said.

"Alright. I'll grab the wine bottle and glasses off the table and move them over with us." Keesha said.

Keesha walked back over to the couch and sat down. She finished off the wine in her glass then poured herself another glass. She picked up the chocolate mousse on the chest hoping that maybe it would help settle her down and the butterflies she was getting around Lucky. After all, chocolate after diamonds was a girls best friend. She grabbed the spoon off the chest and scooped up her first bite.

The velvet feel of the chocolate against her tongue was so satisfying. She couldn't help but let a small sigh at how good it tasted.

"That good huh?" Lucky said from behind her.

Keesha almost jumped when she heard Lucky speak. She could feel his breath against her neck and it made the hairs on the back of it stand up.

"You'll have to see for yourself." Keesha said.

"I think I will." Lucky said.

Lucky sat down next to Keesha and took the spoon from a surpised Keesha's hand and tried the dessert.

"This is good." Lucky said taking another spoonful again using Keesha's spoon.

While taking in his second spoonful of the light and fluffy dessert a thought crossed Lucky's mind. Was he flirting right now? Was he blantantly flirting with Keesha? He knew it had been a while since he used the technique but he slowly realized that he was and most of all he liked it. Lucky wasn't sure if he should be flirting like this or calling it a night. Part of him was saying go to bed and the other part of him was encouraging him to continue. He decided to listen to the part that was saying go for it.

Keesha looked at Lucky and saw that he some chocolate on the side of his face.

"What?" Lucky asked when he saw the look on Keesha's face.

"You have some chocolate on the side of your face." Keesha said.

"Where?" Lucky asked.

"Right there." Keesha pointed.

She watched as Lucky kept missing the spot and finally decided to help him out.

"Here let me help you." Keesha said.

Keesha sat up and moved a little closer to Lucky. She gently placed her hand on the side of Lucky's face and used her thumb to remove the chocolate from his face. Her thumb grazed the side of Lucky's lips and she felt how soft and warm his lips felt against it.

"I'm a messy eater." Lucky said.

Lucky watched as Keesha licked the chocolate off her thumb slowly and thought it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.

Keesha noticed the look on Lucky's face when she licked the chocolate off her thumb and felt her face start to get flush. She looked around to try and find anything that might change where this was heading. This was supposed to be slow she thought. What was happening now was not slow. It was going fast. Real fast and she quickly was liking fast. So she kept looking around the room for something to slow this back down. Keesha spied the wooden chest in front of her and thought it was so beautiful. It looked like it was an antique and a good distraction.

"Lucky this chest is beautiful. Is it an antique?" Keesha asked.

"Yeah." Lucky said noticing the change in direction. He wasn't sure if he was happy or upset that she changed the direction of where they were going but he went with it.

"Elizabeth found it at a craft fair she dragged me to one year. She saw it and just had to have it. The guy wanted three hundred for it and I knew we couldn't afford that but she was determined to have it. She went back and forth with the guy for about an hour over the price. He finally got fed up with her and said he would give it to her for one hundred dollars if she would just go away. Elizabeth gave him the money and she got her chest. That girl is like a dog with a bone when she wants something badly enough. When she goes after something god help anyone that gets in her way." Lucky said laughing at the memory. Then his mood changed with the next sentence.

"When we got divorced I offered it to her but she said no. She said that it belonged here and brought a little something to the room. I think she was right." Lucky said.

Lucky picked up his glass of wine and this time it was his turn to gulp it down. It still hurt to talk about Elizabeth and his old life more than Lucky realized but talking about it with Keesha made it hurt a little less. Lucky quickly poured some more wine into his glass and Keesha's. Keesha knew she probably shouldn't have another glass because she could already feel the affect the wine was having on her and knew that Lucky had to be feeling it to. She ignored that thought and picked her glass and downed the contents of her glass with Lucky.

Keesha looked at Lucky and could see that talking about Elizabeth was still a hard subject for him. The look on his face made Keesha's heart break for him.

"Lucky, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. If I knew that talking about the chest would have..." Lucky stopped Keesha from what she was about say and placed his hand on her knee.

"Stop please. It's ok. Elizabeth and I are in the past and yes, sometimes it does hurt to remember things from the past, but I'm finding that with time it gets easier. So please don't apologize. Ok?" Lucky said.

"Ok." Keesha said softly.

The room fell silent as they both looked into each other eyes. Neither one wanted to break the spell that was cast. Keesha watched as Lucky started to lean in towards her and she felt herself leaning forward to meet him. As there lips were about to touch there was a loud boom of thunder that broke the silence and the lights started to flicker on and off breaking the mood.

"I didn't even realize it was still raining. I better get the flash lights out of the kitchen and matches for the candles. I'll be right back." Lucky said.

Keesha nodded then watched as Lucky went into the kitchen to get the flashlights and matches.

Keesha felt like she needed to get up and walk around just so she could take in what just happened. She slowly got up off the couch and steadied herself because she was feeling a little tipsy from the wine. Keesha stopped in front of the big window that faced the porch and looked out. She watched the rain coming down and tried to let the sound of the rain settle her nerves. It wasn't working. Rainstorms like this one were not her favorite.

As Keesha looked on and listened to the drops as they came down she couldn't believe how close she came to kissing Lucky. Keesha wasn't sure if she was happy or sad that the thunder had broken the moment they shared. Then she thought about it again and came to the conclusion that she was sad about it. Sad because she wanted it to happen. She wanted to kiss Lucky and she liked the thought that he wanted to kiss her too. That caused a small smile to creep up on her face.

The thunder boomed again bringing Keesha out of her thoughts and wiping the smile off her face. She turned around when she heard Lucky walk back into the living room with the matches and the flash lights. He was just in time because the power went out and the only light in the room was from some the candles Lucky had lit for dinner.

Lucky turned on his flashlight and lit some of the candles that had gone out during dinner. He then walked over to Keesha who hadn't moved from her spot. Lucky noticed that Keesha had her arms wrapped around her like she was cold. He walked over to the couch and picked up the throw that was on it and placed it over Keesha's shoulders. She didn't move when he put the throw around her or turn around to him. She just quietly said thank you and continued to look at the window.

"You ok?" Lucky asked.

"I hate storms like this." Keesha said after a few minutes of standing silently.

"You do, why?" Lucky asked.

"They make me think of Justice." Keesha said.

"Oh." Lucky said quietly. He was just about to tell Keesha she didn't have to say anything else but she continued as if she forgot he was there.

"I came home late one night from a long day at the office. We just served a search warrant on a major player in Alcazar's mob. Scored a lot of information on his outfit. Robert had congratulated all of us on a good job. He even gave me kudos, saying that this whole thing would not have come together if I hadn't followed through on a tip that I got. I was so happy that night and I wanted to tell someone but I had no one to tell. No one in my life to share the news with and understand how huge today was. By the time I arrived home that night there was big storm with a lot of thunder and lightening just like this one. The thunder was so loud I actually jumped like a little girl. As the storm grew worse it made me think of how Justice would come in my room when I was little and make sure I was ok. He would always stay with me until I was asleep. I always knew I was safe when he was around. The longer the storm went on, the more I thought about Justice, and the need to talk to him grew. We hadn't talked since that day in the restaurant when I left him sitting there all wet from the drink I threw on him. I had kept tabs on him through some contacts and knew he was ok and even though I was still mad as hell at him Justice never stopped trying to reach me. He tried to call me and left numerous message for me but I never returned one phone call. Justice as always was persistent." Keesh said with a sad smile. " When I didn't answer the phone he wrote me letters. He wrote me one everyday and I never opened one, just placed them in a pile right next to my junk mail." Keesha took a deep breath before she continued.

"That night he left me a message on my answering machine leaving me his new cell phone number and begging me to call him because he missed me. He missed speaking to his little cousin and told me to remember that we are all we had in this world. When I heard that I picked up the phone to talk him but he had alreadt hung up. I called the number he left me but he didn't answer his cell phone so I left a message telling him to call me and that I was ready to talk and that I missed his too." Keesha tried to keep her composure but she couldn't.

She could feel the tears start to come down her face and tried to wipe them away but they kept coming down. "My phone rang just as I was going to bed. I thought it was Justice so I picked up right away. I was surprised when it was Edward on the other line. He said....he said..." Keesha said through her sobs. "He said that Justice had been killed. I asked him if he was sure it was Justice maybe they were wrong. They had to be wrong. But he told me they...they knew it was him and he had identified Justice's body." Keesha said then completely broke down and felt her legs start to give way from underneath her.

Lucky quickly grabbed Keesha and held her close as they both sank to the floor. He rubbed her back and told her that it was ok and to just let it out. Lucky felt Keesha's whole body shake and she cried into his shoulder.

"It's ok, Keesha. I'm here." Lucky said softly.

"I felt like my whole world died Lucky. Justice was the only family I had left and he was gone. I felt like I had killed him." Keesha said.

"Keesha, you shouldn't feel that way. Justice knew you loved him." Lucky said.

"Did he? I was so mean to him when he tried to reach out to me and I pushed him away. I pushed him and pushed him until he was gone. He will never know how much I miss him and how sorry I am for not trying to be more understanding with him. I would give anything right now to hear his voice just one more time and tell him that I love him." Keesha said through more tears.

Lucky held on to Keesha as she continued to cry in his arms. He wanted to let her just get out the emotions that she obviously had pent up for so long. As Lucky sat with Keesha he heard her sobs slowly stop and felt her head move away from his chest. She looked up at him her face wet with the tears she just shed.

"I'm sorry Lucky." Keesha said.

"For what?" Lucky asked.

"We were supposed to have a nice dinner and here I am on the floor a blubbering mess. You must think I'm crazy. Or that you were crazy for inviting me into your home." Keesha said trying to wipe her eyes.

Lucky chuckled.

"I don't think your crazy and I certainly don't regret having you here." Lucky said.

"Really? I would." Keesha said laughing a little through her tears. "I think I'm going to call Robert in the morning and tell him to send someone else to assist with this case. He was wrong when he thought that I would be strong enough to face the ghost I have here." Keesha said.

"No Robert wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing when he picked you." Lucky said.

"C'mon Lucky. Look at me! I have been in Port Charles less than a day and I'm falling apart. How am I supposed to function and see this case through?" Keesha said with some anger in her voice.

"You take it one day at a time. That's all you can do." Lucky said not taking the bait of getting angry with Keesha.

"Easier said than done." Keesha said sarcastically.

"Keesha, I know that it couldn't have been easy for you coming back here knowing who and what was here but you did. That takes a lot of guts in my book. You could have ran away from this and fought harder with Robert back in Washington not to come here but you didn't. I think that's because a part of you wants to face those ghost and finally put them to rest. Don't run away now when you are so close to settling things. I know that if Justice or Mary Mae where here they would tell you the same thing. They would tell you to stay and fight. Don't let those ghost win. Plus, we need you on this case. There is so much we have learned about this case thanks to you and I have a feeling that we will learn a lot more that will require your expertise. And, if your not here, Rodriguez and I will kill Doug and show him what we do to assholes in the sticks." Lucky said making Keesha laugh. "So what do you say, will you stay?" He asked hoping he was getting through the wall Keesha was starting to put up.

Keesha started to look down when she felt Lucky's hand tilt her chin up to look into his eyes. "I know how you feel. You feel like you are alone and that no one can understand that feeling of loneliness in your heart. I understand your pain. I walked down that lonely path you feel like you are on and I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You feel like that there is no left in this town that cares about you but there are." Lucky said.

"Like who?" Keesha asked.

"Edward...me and others you probably haven't even taken into account." Lucky said.

"You?" Keesha asked.

Lucky nodded his head and smiled. "Yeah, me. Keesha I know that you and I haven't seen each other in years but when I saw you for the first time at the airport I felt this connection with you instantly. I have never felt that with anyone before. When I look into those beautiful brown eyes of yours you know what I see?" Lucky asked.

"What?" Keesha said.

"A future. I know it sounds corny but... I do. For the first time in a long time I feel my heart opening up to the possibility of something good in my life and it feels great. So if you think that I'm going to let you slip out of my life and go back to Washington you are so wrong. If you need someone to help you through this, someone to lean on when things get rough, just know that you can lean on me." Lucky said.

"Why would you do that?" Keesha asked.

"Because I never wanna see you hurt like this again." Lucky said tenderly.

Keesha looked into Lucky's green eyes and could see that he was truly being sincere with her. She felt Lucky's hands again on her face wiping away the few tears that were still coming down her face. Then as she locked eyes with him she slowly started to feel her body start to lean in towards him and his to her. Keesha closed her eyes as Lucky leaned in closer to her placing his lips on hers.

When Keesha felt Lucky's lips on hers a shock went through her system. She quickly pulled away from Lucky letting the throw that was wrapped so protectively around her drop.

When Keesha pulled away Lucky he thought he did something wrong.

"Keesha I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I don't want you to think that I was taking advantage of you. God, I feel so stupid." Lucky said hating himself now. Here she was trying to pour her feelings out and he took advantage of her weak state. He looked at Keesha who was just staring at him not saying a word. Lucky took this a sign that maybe he was wrong about the kiss and that maybe Keesha needed a moment to herself away from him.

"How about I go check and see if the power is back on?" Lucky said.

As he started to get up he felt Keehsa reach out and grab his arm pulling him back down.

"Lucky, you didn't do anything wrong and you certainly didn't take advantage of me. It just took me by surprise that's all." Keesha said.

Lucky felt a sense of relief wash over him and then couldn't believe the next words he heard.

"Now, I'm ready if you wanna try that again?" Keesha said.

"Keesha there's no needed to..."

Before Lucky could finish his sentence Keesha had pressed her lips against his to show him that she was sure. Keesha's lips felt so good against his Lucky thought. They were full, plump, warm, and tasted salty from the tears she recently shed.

At first the kisses were small like they were both still checking to see if this is what they both wanted. When Lucky felt Keesha slowly put her arms around him pulling him closer he answered her touch by lower himself closer to her. As soon as he did that he felt Keesha start to intensify her kisses.

While kissing Lucky, Keesha was sucking and playing with Lucky's bottom lip and it was starting to drive him crazy. He felt his body heat start to rise and wanted more then anything to take the shirt that was wearing off.

Keesha hadn't dated many guys since Jason. The memory of him was just to powerful and she always found herself comparing them to him, but rightnow, in this moment with Lucky, there was none of that. Jason was no longer there haunting her. This was all Lucky. It had been a long time since she had felt this same attraction she was feeling right now while kissing Lucky and she was enjoying it.

Keesha moved her hands around Lucky's back and she could feel how rock solid his back felt. She let her hands explore more since Lucky wasn't stopping her roaming. Her hands slowly inched their way up and her fingers caressed the back of his smooth neck. Keesha was enjoying herself but wanted to feel more of him so she opened her mouth giving him an invitation to explore her mouth further. Keesha then felt Lucky except her invitation and soon their tongues where dancing around each other enjoying the game they were playing. Keesha didn't mean to, she let out a small moan of delight and then felt Lucky smile against her lips.

When Keesha moaned Lucky felt a renewed sense of delight roll through him. He decided that there were other areas of Keesha that called to him and needed to be explored. He reluctantly left Keesha's mouth that tasted of chocolate and sweet red wine and slowly kissed his way down her neck.

As Lucky lips traveled ever so slowly down Keesha's neck he heard a hiss escape Keesha's lips. This must be a sensitive spot on her neck he thought. He nibbled and sucked on that spot again and got the same response. He felt Keesha arch her back more giving him more access to the spot he was so enjoying.

Suddenly Keesha thought that Lucky was wearing to much clothing. She started to slowly unbutton his shirt one button on at time while Lucky was enjoying the spot on her neck. Slowly she slipped off Lucky's shirt and was greeted to the sight of him in a white tank top that exposed his well chiseled body.

"Oh my god he works out!" Keesha thought to herself.

Keesha fingers tried to find their way under Lucky's tank top but she soon thought that it was getting in the way and was way to restrictive so it to soon went of the way Lucky's shirt. Lucky didn't seem to mind being shirtless and even took a moment to leave Keesha's neck so she could remove his t shirt. Now Keesha had the full view of Lucky and couldn't help but enjoy what was in front of her.

Lucky looked at Keesha who was now staring at him and chuckled.

"Enjoying the view?" Lucky asked.

"You have no idea." Keesha said.

"Well I need to even the score." Lucky said.

"What do you mean?" Keesha asked.

"You have to much on." Lucky asked causing Keesha to raise an eyebrow.

Lucky leaned back down and started nibbling back at Keesha's neck eliciting another moan from her. Soon his hands started tugging at the shirt she was wearing and inching their way underneath. His fingers were now touching her flat stomach and he was enjoying the feel of her smooth skin against them. Lucky wanted a better view of Keesha and to get that, the shirt needed to come off but it didn't need to come off quickly. He slowly lifted up Keesha's shirt and loved how it was revealing every inch of her gorgeous body to him. Once her shirt was off he tossed it to the side and it landed in a pile with his shirts.

As Lucky and Keesha explored each other more clothing was removed and tossed to the side landing in piles all over the room. Soon the only thing separating Lucky and Keesha's body was the throw that somehow got back in the middle of them. This barrier in between them seemed to put the breaks on the hot and heavy make out session that was occurring between them. Both Keesha and Lucky were now panting heavy looking at each other not sure what to do now. They both wanted to continue but suddenly were not sure if this was what the other wanted.

Lucky didn't know what to say as Keesha looked at him with the same questioning hungry look in her eye. Soon his question was answered when Keesha smiled and told Lucky what he wanted to hear.

"I want this if you want this Lucky?" Keesha said.

"I do. I want you Keesha." Lucky said.

Lucky pulled Keesha into a passionate embrace that left her breathless with want and desire. They made love on the living room floor and forgot all about the world beyond where they where. Tonight there were no ghost of long lost boyfriends, no ex-wives, and bad memories. Just Keesha and Lucky and the magic they were making.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! I have had this chapter in my computer for a while and totally forgot it was in there. It's a long one. I hope you all like it. **

**I don't own General Hospital or its characters because if I did Greg Vaughn would still be on the show and so would Ric Hurst.**

_Previously on General Hospital_

_Lucky didn't know what to say as Keesha looked at him with the same questioning hungry look in her eye. Soon his question was answered when Keesha smiled and told Lucky what he wanted to hear._

_"I want this if you want this Lucky?" Keesha said._

_"I do. I want you Keesha." Lucky said._

_Lucky pulled Keesha into a passionate embrace that left her breathless with want and desire. They made love on the living room floor and forgot all about the world beyond where they where. Tonight there were no ghost of long lost boyfriends, no ex-wives, and bad memories. Just Keesha and Lucky and the magic they were making._

* * *

One week later....

Three times he walked away from the room then walked back. He wasn't sure if he should be there or not but he needed to say his peace so he turned back around and walked back towards the room to try again. Of course once he reached the room there was another obstacle he had to face. The same one he dealt with day in and day out. Cops. He laughed to himself because they were always around when he didn't need them.

Alexis was sitting by Ric's bedside watching him for any signs of life. She had been there all week long. The hospital had placed a bed in Ric's room after Alexis made it clear that she wasn't leaving until Ric woke up. The administration tried to argue against Alexis staying in Ric's room but Nikolas and Jax stepped in on her behalf and quieted them down. Having a nephew and a best friend on the board of directors does come in handy, especially when they say they will pull all the funding the hospital needs for the next fiscal year. After that Alexis got all she wanted and more.

Alexis held Ric's hand in hers and moved a stand of hair out his face. While looking at him she noticed that the swelling in his face had gone down which made her happy but there were still plenty of black and blue marks that made her frown. Alexis looked at her watch and knew that another round of chemo was coming up and that she would have to leave soon. The only time Alexis left Ric's side was when she needed to attend her chemotherapy appointments. Sam,Nikolas, and Jax would stay with Ric while Alexis was going through her chemo treatments. Each time they would promise over and over that if he so much as twitched they would call her back.

The chemo treatments were wiping Alexis out. She was tired of being sick and sick of being tired from them. Her only saving grace was that the treatments were working and the cancer was showing signs that it wasn't spreading and may possible be going into remission. Alexis told herself that soon this will all seem like a bad dream. The nightmare called cancer would be over and maybe she and Ric could start a new fairytale of their own.

Alexis checked her watch again and noticed that it was getting late and Nikolas should be arriving soon. She was grateful for all that Nikolas was doing for her. He was going above and beyond to make sure that she was happy and well taken care of. After every chemo appointment he would stay with her and wrap her up with all the blankets she needed. Alexis would always tell him that she was fine and that he could leave but Nikolas would just tell her it would simply be bad manners for him to leave her like this and no real prince would leave a damsel in distress. That always made her smile.

Alexis looked at her watch one more time. She was starting to get really impatient because she had to be on time for her chemo appointments. The last time she was late the tech was not happy and told her she needed to be on time because when she was late then everyone else is late for their appointments. Alexis didn't argue she simply apologized. Which was so unlike her. Usually she would have put the tech in their place and not even thought twice about it, now she just let things like that go. Strife like that just took too much energy to care about and she needed all the energy she had for Ric. Alexis did make a promise to herself that once she felt better she was going to visit that tech and give them the tongue lashing they so richly deserved.

As Alexis continued waiting for Nikolas to arrive she heard someone shouting outside the door of Ric's room. The voice sounded familiar but was still kind of muffled through the door so she couldn't quite make it who it was. Whoever it was sounded angry and upset that the two officers weren't letting him pass. Alexis tried to block out the noise and focus her attention on Ric but soon the noise became too loud.

"Oh this is ridiculous." Alex said getting upset over the noise.

She got up from her seat and kissed Ric on the forehead telling him she would be right back.

Alexis was now pissed as she approached the door and flung it open. Who in the hell would be making such a racket in a hospital she thought? Once she stepped out and side and saw who it was she knew exactly why there was such a commotion.

"Sonny! What the hell are you doing here?" Alexis asked.

Sonny Corinthos looked away from the two rookie cops that were trying to restrain him over to the now angry Alexis.

"Look Alexis, I didn't come here to cause a problem and I'm sorry for the noise. I just wanted to see Ric." Sonny said.

Alexis laughed. She didn't mean to but she couldn't help. It was the funniest thing she had heard all day.

"What's so funny?" Sonny asked.

"The fact that you think I'd let you get with in a foot of him." Alexis said.

"I'm not here to hurt him Alexis." Sonny said.

"You're damn right your not. I'm not going to let you hurt him. Now go away before I have these nice officers call for back up and escort you out the not so nice way." Alexis said.

"Alexis, wait." Sonny asked.

When Alexis didn't stop and started to go back in the room Sonny felt himself start to loose his cool and he yelled to get Alexis' attention.

"Stop!" Sonny yelled.

Alexis froze in her tracks. She knew that tone that Sonny was using very well. She had heard him use it many times when he was angry about something. It had been along time since he used it towards anyone. The medication he was taking and the sessions he was doing with Lainey had calmed Sonny's temper down quite a bit since being diagnosed bi-polar . Or so Alexis had thought.

Alexis turned back around and saw that Sonny was even taken back by the way he called her.

"I'm sorry Alexis. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just needed to get your attention and not have you turn your back on me until you here me out." Sonny said.

"Sonny,why are you here?" Alexis asked.

Sonny looked at Alexis and couldn't really answer her. There were so many reasons why he was there that it would take all day to explain them to her.

"Alexis, just let me see him." Sonny said.

Alexis laughed again.

"Again with the laughing. What's so funny now?" Sonny asked.

"You. Me. This whole thing. You hate Ric. He hates you. Hell I hate you and you hate me. Yet here you are asking to see a brother you can't stand. I find this whole situation hilarious. If you want to see your brother you better give me something better then you just "need" to see him." Alexis said.

Sonny was about to give up and just go home but the reason why he was there still nagged at him.

"A promise." Sonny said.

"A promise? No I need more." Alexis said standing with her arms crossed.

"That's all you gonna get. What I have to say is not for you." Sonny said.

Alexis was about to tell Sonny that he could stick his "That's all you gonna get" where the sun don't shine but she stopped when she looked Sonny in the eye. She always thought that Sonny had the most expressive eyes she had every seen. They told so much about him. It was one of the things that first attracted her to him. It wasn't the power,or the expensive suits like the he was wearing right now, or even his money. It was Sonny's eyes. When she looked into his eyes she could see exactly what he was thinking or feeling. When Sonny was happy his eyes would light up like diamonds and then he would give you that million dollar smile that would melt you like butter. Then when Sonny was angry, that thought sent a shiver down Alexis' spine. When Sonny was angry his eyes would go from a warm mocha to dark black like a sharks eyes, cold and lifeless. Alexis had seen that stare many times when she worked for Sonny and had even earned herself one those cold lifeless stares when Sonny found out that she was keeping Kristina away from him. This time when she dared to look into his eyes she didn't see Sonny's cold eyes,or the bright diamonds, what she saw shocked her. It was concern. Genuine concern for Ric.

Alexis motioned Sonny to follow her away from the prying eyes and ears of the officers who were still wondering what was going on. When they were far enough away she whispered to Sonny.

"I just gotta know. Are you here to kill Ric?" Alexis asked.

Now it was Sonny's turn to laugh out loud.

"Oh god, you are." Alexis said.

Sonny stopped laughing and shook his head no. He leaned over closer to Alexis and whispered very quietly.

"If I wanted him dead, it would have already happened." Sonny said with a wink.

Alexis nodded her head and understood all to well what Sonny just told her. If Sonny really wanted Ric dead it would have happened already and she wouldn't be at Ric's bedside but at his grave site.

"Sonny, if you hurt him so help me.."Alexis whispered and stopped when Sonny held up his hand like he was surrendering.

"I'm not here to hurt him. I'm here to deliver on a promise that is long over due. So, you gonna let me pass?" Sonny asked.

Alexis shook her head and against her better judgment she shook her head yes.

"Ok. Ok. You convinced me. You can go in. Let me just tell the officers it's ok for you to go in." Alexis said.

After telling the officers who seemed a bit surprised that a known mob boss who hated his District Attorney brother was now being allowed access to him Alexis walked back over to Sonny.

"It's alright for you to go in. Hans and Frans won't give you any trouble." Alexis said.

"You sure? They don't seem like they are too comfortable with me going inside." Sonny said looking over at the two rookie officers.

Alexis looked at Sonny and shook her head.

"Well it's a little expected Sonny. It's their job to hate you. To them you are the Anti-Christ and I should be pouring holy water on you to cleanse you of all the evil inside of you." Alexis said.

Sonny couldn't help but smile. The one thing he always loved about Alexis was her sharp wit.

Alexis looked down at her watch and saw that she was late for chemo appointment.

"Look Sonny I gotta go. I'm late for my chemo appointment and the tech is a bitch and half when I'm late. I usually have Nikolas, Jax, or Sam stay with Ric to watch him and let me know if he moves but none of them are here yet. So... I was wondering... if you would like to stay until I get back?" Alexis said forcing the last part of her sentence out.

"Yeah, yeah I'll sit with him until you get back." Sonny said.

"You sure?" Alexis asked.

"I'm sure. Thank you Alexis. It says a lot that you trust me with him." Sonny said.

"Oh... I don't trust you Sonny. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you. The only reason I asked you is because you made a good point. If you wanted him dead he would have already been in the ground and as sick as that is it's a comforting thought to me because now I know that Ric will be ok. It also lets me know it wasn't you who did this to him. Now, I have to go and I will be back two hours." Alexis said.

"You go on counselor and I will see you two hours and don't worry. He'll still will be breathing when you come back." Sonny said.

"He better be." Alexis said then started to head towards her appointment.

Sonny walked over to Ric's room door and walked past the two officers who almost looked like they were going to try and block his way. Sonny chuckled as he walked by them into the room. Rookies, always trying to prove something Sonny said to himself.

Sonny had to steady himself as he opened the room door. He was still trying to gather the courage and do what needed to be done. Taking a deep breathe he pushed the door open and entered the room. The first thing Sonny hears coming into the room is the beeping from Ric's monitors. How many times has he heard that sound while visiting this hospital? Too many he thought. As he gets closer to Ric's bed he hears more sounds he has become all to familiar with in his time as mob boss of Port Charles. It's not surprising to Sonny that these sounds don't phase him in the slightest anymore. He has lost so many people over the years that it doesn't bother him like it used too. What does bother him is feeling like he could have done something to prevent whatever happened to the people he cared about. Something that could have possible made the difference to keep them from ending up in the hospital and being hooked up to machines like the ones Ric was on now.

Sonny finally reached Ric's bedside after the slow walk from the door to the bed. He looked Ric over and shakes his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the body in front of him was Ric's. Sonny had never seen Ric like this before. He never seen Ric looking so beaten down. Even literally. Ric had always been a thorn in Sonny side from the moment he re-entered his life. Just a scheming bastard that just wouldn't quit until he got what he wanted and even though Sonny wanted to put a bullet in Ric's brain he knew that couldn't for two reasons. One being the obvious that he was and his brother and two was something he totally blocked out until his recent session with Laney and a conversation Sonny had with his daughter Kristina. Two was a promise that he made to Ric many,many, years ago and one that he told his daughter he would keep.

Sonny sat down in the seat next to Ric's bed. It was a seat that he was sure Alexis had sat hours in watching and waiting for some time for Ric to show some proof that he was still alive.

There was a knock on the door and Sonny looked over his shoulder and saw the door open and one his favorite person walked in.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?" Sonny asked smiling.

"What am I doing here? The question is what you doing here?"she laughed.

Sonny got up out of his chair and walked over to give Robin a hug. He hadn't seen Robin since the birth of her daughter and seeing her was truly a sight for sore eyes .

After the hug ended Sonny walked back to his seat next to Ric's bed while Robin moved to the other side and checked Ric's vitals.

"So how's he doing?" Sonny asked.

Robin waited a second before she answered Sonny as she was still getting Ric's vitals. She walked over to Ric's chart and wrote his vitals down and then looked up to Sonny.

"He's actually doing a lot better. His vitals are improving every day. The swelling in his brain went down and that's fantastic. It means that he is making a real turn around. When he first came in we weren't sure he would make it but Ric is a survivor. You can never knock him down for long." Robin said.

"Yeah he's a tough bastard. God knows how many times we've clashed and he was still able to get up afterwards and fight like nothing happened." Sonny said.

Robin put Ric's chart back down and moved closer to Sonny. She sat on the edge of Ric's bed and took Sonny hand in hers.

"You never answered my question Sonny. Why are you here? What's the real reason?" Robin asked.

Sonny leaned back in his chair and tried to get as comfortable as he could. He would never reveal to anyone except Robin or Jason what he was about to say out loud. They were the only people he could just be himself with or feel a little vulnerable and not have to worry that they were going to use it against him like Ric did.

"I'm here to try and fulfill a promise I made years ago that I didn't even realize I made until today." Sonny said.

"A promise you made years ago? I don't understand. Was it a promise you made to Ric and what do you mean you didn't realize you made it until today?" Robin asked.

"You know I'm in therapy right?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah with Lainey. How's that going by the way?" Robin asked.

"It's going good. At first I thought this was going to make me weak by admitting my faults but it's really helping me see what that I have some serious issues I need to deal with and one of them is Ric." Sonny said.

"So what about this promise? What does it have to do with Ric?" Robin asked. She was glad that Sonny knew he could open up to her like this. She knew that very little people got to see this side of Sonny and she was glad that she could be one of the fortunate few.

"Well, I had my session with Lainey today and we where discussing my childhood. You know about my mother, Deke,and all that stuff that I don't like to normal talk about. While talking about my mom I remembered somethings about her pregnancy with Ric that I had totally blocked out. The memories came flooding back and I was totally overwhelmed by them. It took me by surprise." Sonny said.

"What did you remember?" Robin asked.

"I remembered holding Ric in my arms right after he was born." Sonny said.

Robin couldn't help but gasp in surprise and cover her mouth that was gaping open.

"Sonny, oh my god!" Robin said.

"Yeah, that's what I said when I remembered. Robin, I was amazed at how clear the memory was and how I could recall it with such clarity like it was yesterday. Did I ever tell you about my mother's pregnancy?"Sonny said.

"No not really. I just remember you saying that it was a bad time for you because of Trevor." Robin said.

"It was a bad time and Lainey said that's probably why I blocked most of it out. Trevor hated me so much that I blocked out what was really one of the best times of my life with my mom." Sonny said.

"I'm so sorry to hear that Sonny. You know that you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to right?" Robin said.

"Yeah, I know but I'd like to share it with someone and I couldn't think of a better person to share with than you." Sonny said.

"Thank you Sonny." Robin said.

Sonny took a deep breathe then started his trip down memory lane. "When my mom found out she was pregnant she couldn't have been happier. She was so in love with Trevor that it blinded her to all his faults. I remember her telling Trevor that she was pregnant and he was ecstatic to know that my mom was bringing a child of his in the world. He always told my mom that he and his wife couldn't have a child because they were not in love like he and my mom where. What he forgot to mention was the the fact that he wasn't home enough to have a kid with her. Trevor had so may mistresses he didn't need sex from his wife, he just need the money and the prestige that came along with her. Anyway, when my mother was far enough along Trevor wanted to move my mother out of the city so his wife wouldn't find out. So he told her he was sending her to Martha's Vineyard where she would be able to rest. My mother loved the idea but she wouldn't leave without me and begged Trevor to let me go. Well Trevor didn't trust me since he thought I pushed my mother down the stairs because of the baby." Sonny said.

"Which was a lie." Robin said.

"Exactly and thankyou. My mother begged and begged and finally Trevor gave in and let me go with my mother to Martha's Vineyard. My mom and I stayed in this huge house that was right on the beach. It had butlers,maids,and everything my mother needed to keep her comfortable. When I came there I thought we were living in a castle." Sonny said laughing.

Robin couldn't help but laugh when she saw Sonny laugh.

"Hey I was a kid from the city and five years old. So this was like something out of story book for me. I had never seen anything like it before and for the first time in my life I felt free and alive. While staying there my mother and I would walk up and down the beach and we would talk for hours. She would tell me that I was going to be a big brother and that it was my job to protect my little brother or sister because that's what big brother's do. She said it was a huge responsibility and that since I was the man of the house that I needed to help raise the baby with her. When my mother told me that Robin, I was on cloud nine. I mean being told that I was the man of the house and that I was going to be a big brother and had a responsibility to help take care of my new brother or sister made me feel like I was all grown up. From that day on I made sure that my mother and the baby were taken care of. I made sure my toys were put away, and that my bed was made,and that if my mother needed anything I was right there to get it for her. Whatever she needed I was there. Then at night just before going to bed I would talk to my mom's stomach. I would tell the baby I couldn't wait for it come out so they could meet their big brother who loved them very much and was ready for the responsibility that god and mommy was giving me." Sonny had to stop there because he could feel a lump in his throat.

Robin looked at her friend and could see the pain on his face from dredging up these memories. She could see that it was tearing him up to remember all of this.

"Sonny you don't have to continue if you don't want to. It's ok." Robin said.

Sonny wiped the lone tear coming down his face then waived Robin off when she asked if he was ok and then regained his composure that quick.

"Nah, I'm fine. I just got caught up for second but I'm better now. Where was I, oh yeah I remember now. Well, things were going great with my mom and I just being alone together. Then one day as she and I were talking our daily walk down the beach she started having back pains. They were getting really bad so she said we needed to go back in the house. By the time we got back she was on the phone and telling the doctor it was time and the baby was coming. The doctor came quick and my mom was taken into one of the back bedrooms. I remember the doctor telling the maid and butler that there was no time to get to the hospital because the baby was coming now. I ran into the room to check on my mother and she told me to just sit on the couch like a good boy and wait until someone comes to get me. She kissed my forehead and told me to go. She was in so much pain and I was scared and told her that I didn't want to leave but she said she was ok and to just wait outside and before I knew it I would be saying hello to the baby. I did as I was told then sat on the couch and waited, and waited,and waited. I had sat so long I didn't even know I fell asleep on the couch until the doctor came over to me and woke me up. The doctor smiled down at me and told me that there was someone waiting to see me. I ran into the room and there was my mother looking tired,warn out, but happy. Really happy. She was holding the baby in her arms and it was wrapped in a light blue blanket. That's when I knew that it was a boy. I was a big brother to a baby boy. My mother looked over to me and smiled and called me over to sit next to her. I ran over and and she made room for me on the bed. She asked me if I wanted to meet my new baby brother and I yelled yes. The baby started to stir in her arms and that's when I found out that babies don't like loud sounds. She lowered the baby so I could see him and Robin, when I saw my new little brother I knew that he was made for me. I knew that god had made him just for me and I was put on this earth to protect him from all harm. I loved him so much and I just met him. Then my mother surprised me and asked if I wanted to hold him. I was so excited and when she placed his tiny body in my arms I cried. I was so happy I cried. I kissed his little forehead and when I looked down he was smiling at me. My mom said it was gas when I said he as smiling but I knew better. I introduced myself to him and told him that I was the voice he had been hearing in my mommy's tummy and the baby cooed and smiled again. My mom asked one of the maids to go get the camera off the nightstand in her room. She wanted to take a picture of her boys. After the picture of us was taken I promised the baby that I would always watch over and take care of him no matter what because he is my responsibility. I told him that nothing and no one would ever hurt him while I was around." Sonny said.

Robin looked at Sonny and saw his facial expression start to darken and knew this is where the story must take a bad turn.

"After the picture was taken I gave the baby back to my mom and we just sat there smiling and looking at the baby. It was a real nice family moment. But just like everything in my life that makes me happy it was quickly taken away." Sonny said.

"Trevor." Robin said.

"Trevor. My mom and I had no idea that one of the maids had called Trevor and told him the baby was on the way. When the bedroom door opened my mom had just put the baby back in my arms so I could feed him. When Trevor walked in and saw that he rushed over and snatched the baby right out of my arms. I asked to have him back so I could feed him but Trevor just laughed at me. He said that I hoped I enjoyed that little moment because that will be the last time that I ever get to touch his son again. I begged him to give him back and told him that he was my responsibility. He was my family. Trevor leaned down to me and said the only responsibility a little bastard like me is good for is to watch over the roaches in my apartment because I was just like them. Nobody wants them but everyone's got one he said. Then he told me I was not and never will be apart of this child's family. I ran out of the room crying while my mother tried to call me back. I cried and I cried until I feel asleep. The next thing I remember I was waking up in a car and being told that I was being taken to my aunts house in Brooklyn and that my mother would join me when she was better." Sonny said.

"What happened when your mother came home?" Robin asked.

"When she came home she said that the baby was with Trevor and that he would have a better life with him. We never really spoke about it after that. She did give me something and told me to always keep it close to my heart. " Sonny said then reached in to the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a picture and handed it to Robin.

Robin looked down at the picture and started to cry. It was a old picture of Sonny holding a newly born Ric in his arms. Through tears Robin smiled at how happy Sonny looked. Even his mother who Robin had only seen in one other picture looked happy with her boys. In the other picture Sonny showed her his mother was looking away from the camera and off in to the distance like she looking for something. Now Robin knew what she was looking for and why she had the far away look on her face. Robin gave the picture back to Sonny who was held it in his hand and smiled down at the image of his younger self.

"This picture is what started it all ya know. I was going through some stuff of when I was kid to show Micheal and Morgan when I found an old book I used to love to read when I was kid of beaches. When I picked up the book the picture fell out and I looked at and started to get flashes of memories I didn't understand. I made the appointment with Lainey and here we are." Sonny said.

Robin wiped her tears away with her hands and tried to take in all that she was told. There was still a question that hung in the air she thought that needed to be answer.

"So, the question still is...why are you here Sonny?" Robin asked.

"I'm here to deliver on that promise I made so many years ago. I know that Ric and I will never be best friends or the kind of brothers that can have each others back but still feel responsible for him. I still want to protect him. When I look at him lying there like this, apart of me knows that if I had been watching out him like I do for Jason that maybe I could have prevented this." Sonny said.

"Sonny, you shouldn't punish yourself like this. You don't know if you could have stopped this or not. You all of people should know that things like this can't always be prevented. And let's face it you and Ric are truly like oil and water. Whose to say that if you did grow up together that you would've had a great relationship as brothers? You could've been together and still be right where you are now." Robin said.

"I know but I just can't help but feeling like this is my time to try and make things right. To try and make sure that he is around to finally heal some old wounds. Besides, it would make Kristina happy. She loves Ric and she asked me to make sure that he is ok so he could come home and make Alexis and Molly happy again. I told her I would take care of it and I will. I'm going to find out what happened to him and make sure that who ever did this deals with me." Sonny said.

"Are you sure you want a relationship with Ric?" Robin asked.

"Look, I'm not stupid. I know I won't be able to trust Ric as far as I can throw for awhile but eventually I hope we can reach a point where we can just be civil to each other. I think that would make my mother happy and maybe that little boy inside this picture would feel better knowing that his promise was kept." Sonny said.

"I hope so Sonny." Robin said then looked to her side when she felt beeper vibrate. "I gotta take this. Patrick needs me for a consult. You gonna be ok?" Robin asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine. He's not going anywhere too soon and can't speak so theres no chance of an argument. So yeah, I'll be fine." Sonny said.

"Ok. Then I will leave you and Ric to yourselves." Robin said getting up off the bed. As she headed towards the door she turned back around to Sonny.

"Hey? You gonna show Ric that picture?" Robin asked.

Sonny turned to her and shook his head. "No. That's one memory I'm not ready to share yet. I kinda wanna keep that with me a little while longer."

"Gotcha." Robin said smiling then walked out the door to meet Patrick.

Sonny turned back around to Ric and sat there quietly for a few minutes just looking at him. After about fifteen minutes of sitting and listen to the machines in the room work Sonny started to get thirsty and started to reach for the pitcher of water on the stand near Ric's bed. When he got up he looked at Ric and could have sworn he saw Ric's finger on his right hand move. He walked over closer to the bed and looked at Ric's right hand to see if it would move again but it didn't move. Sonny chalked it up to just seeing things and went back to getting his water. While Sonny's looked away Ric's finger moved again.

* * *

Alexis was wheeled back in to the room by Nikolas who was still apologizing for being late because he was taking care of a business deal. She tried to tell him that she understood and held no ill will against but he still kept at it. Finally she told him if he wanted to make it up to her he must promise to take Kristina horse back riding at Windemere this weekend. Nikolas of course was all to happy to take his favorite cousin horse back riding and even sweetened the deal by saying both Kristina and Molly could come and keep Spencer company for the weekend since Emily would be off giving him an extra pair of hands with the kids.

Alexis thanked Nikolas and was pretty sure that Sam would thank him too. She had been watching the girls all by herself since Alexis had moved into Ric's room and even though she never complained about it Alexis knew that Sam would probably enjoy a little time to herself.

When Nikolas and Alexis entered the room they found Sonny was still in the room reading a newspaper while he waited.

Sonny heard the door open and turned to see Alexis being wheeled in by Nikolas. He saw the look of shock on Nikolas' face and knew that Alexis must not have told him who was sitting with Ric.

"So is he still breathing?" Alexis asked while Nikolas rolled her towards her bed.

Sonny chuckled.

"Yes he is. The pillow that I put over his face was taken to long to work so I gave up." Sonny said folding his newspaper up.

Alexis looked at Sonny and glared at him.

"I'm just kidding counselor. He's just fine. Although I gotta tell that my eyes must be playing tricks on me because I thought I saw his finger move." Sonny said.

"You what?" Alexis said as Nikolas helped her in the bed.

"I thought I saw his finger move but when I went to go look again I didn't see anything. I sat here the whole time watching for something else to move but nothin'. Look I gotta go and meet Jason." Sonny said.

Sonny walked over to Alexis who looked hell. He could see that she was shivering and pulled the blanket up over her.

"Thank you Sonny. For not killing him I mean." Alexis said through chattering teeth.

Sonny knew what she was really saying to him through that thank you.

"No, thank you. You really helped me out here today and for that I owe you. Take care of yourself... and him." Sonny said pointing to Ric.

"I will." Alexis said.

"Nikolas." Sonny said.

"Sonny." Nikolas said.

Even though both men were not fond of each other because of past issues they eventually found that life was easier being civil to one another.

Once Sonny left the room Nikolas breathed a small sigh of relief. The room just seemed less stuffy now that it was Sonny-less. Nikolas looked at Alexis and noticed that she was still shivering.

"Do you want some more blankets? I notice that you only have one again. When I leave here I'm going to meet Emily for lunch and when we are done I'm going to get you your own blanket." Nikolas said.

"Nikolas you don't have to do that. Enjoy your lunch with Emily. I'll be fine and the nurse can always bring me more blankets. Go have your lunch with Emily I'll be fine." Alexis said.

"Alright I'll go but I'm still bringing you a nice warm blanket later." Nikolas said kissing Alexis' head.

"Ok but nothing girly or pink. I hate pink. And no flowers. Nothing bright either." Alexis said making a face.

Nikolas laughed and nodded. "Your wish is my command. Nothing girly, pink,or flowers. Just dark colors nothing bright. Is that about right?"

"Yes." Alexis yawned.

"So black it is." Nikolas said.

"Perfect." Alexis said pulling her blanket over head for warmth.

"I'm going to get you another blanket before meeting Emily for lunch. I'll be right back." Nikolas said then left the room to go get a blanket for Alexis.

Alexis looked over to Ric while she waited for Nikolas' to return and wished that she would get some sign of life from him.

"I know you're in there Ric. Gimme a sign." Alexis said.

Just then Ric's finger moved.

Alexis couldn't believe what she just saw. Maybe her eyes where playing tricks on her. After all she was pretty tired and it could be wishful thinking on her part. So she called out to Ric louder this time.

"Ric, if you can hear me move again." Alexis said.

Right on command Ric moved his finger again.

Alexis needed to get over to Ric and see if she could make him move again but her body was so weak.

"C'mon Alexis it's only a short distance away you can make it." Alexis said.

Slowly Alexis pushed herself up off the bed. It took all the effort she had to stay up. She grabbed on to the railing of her bed and used it help steady herself. When she was fully able to sit up she put her blanket over to help try and keep her warm. Alexis was about to try and take her first step when Nikolas walked back in and saw what she was about to do and quickly ran over to her.

"What were you thinking? You know you're too weak to trying and walk by yourself. What was so important that you couldn't wait for me to get back?" Nikolas said.

"He moved. Ric moved his finger twice. I called out to him and he moved. I need to get over there. Nikolas help me." Alexis said.

Without another word Nikolas quickly picked up Alexis and carried her over to the chair that she had been sitting in for a week faithfully waiting for a sign and now it was here.

Alexis grabbed Ric's left hand while Nikolas went over to the other side of the bed to see if Ric moved his finger again.

"Ric...can you hear me? If you can please move again." Alexis said.

She looked over to Nikolas who shook his head to indicate he didn't see anything so she tried again.

"I know you're there please keep trying. You have to come home. We're waiting for you." Alexis said.

Alexis looked up at Nikolas again hoping he saw something. Nikolas was about to shake his head no but then he saw two of Ric's fingers move. He picked up the call button and pressed it.

"We need some help in here. Get the doctor now!" Nikolas said to the nurse over the intercom.

Nikolas turned his attention back to Alexis.

"Whatever you are doing keep it up." Nikolas urged.

"Ric, please move again. C'mon baby move." Alexis said.

Nikolas looked at Ric's hand watching for another sign of movement but there was none. He silently asked for Ric to move so Alexis wouldn't be disappointed. Nikolas was brought out of his thoughts by the room door opening and seeing Patrick,Robin, and Emily come in.

"What's going on? The nurse said you needed help?" Patrick asked.

"He moved. His finger moved." Alexis said.

"Are you sure?" Patrick asked.

"Yes, Nikolas and I both saw it."Alexis said.

"Ok, let me have a look." Patrick said.

Patrick moved over to Ric's side and took out his pocket light and shined it in Ric's eyes.

"His pupils are showing no reaction to the light. There is a good chance that it may have been a reflex. Nothing more." Patrick said.

"It was not a damn reflex! He moved when I called him." Alexis said angrily.

Alexis knew what she saw and was not about to let anyone dismiss it as if was nothing.

"Try again to call him Alexis." Emily said walking over to Nikolas' side.

"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to try again. If he's in there you can reach him." Robin said.

Robin loved her husband but sometimes Patrick's bedside manner was a little on the rough side. He had come along way but he still needed some work.

"Ric, you need to try and move you need..."Alexis was interrupted by Emily.

"No Alexis. Talk to him how you would normally talk to him." Emily winked.

At first Alexis didn't know what Emily meant but then she got it.

"Alright Ric, enough is enough. I have been sitting here for a week now waiting for you and frankly I'm tired of it. It's time to get off your ass and come back to the world of living so I can whip your ass in court. Because we all know I'm the best lawyer this town has ever seen and I can out argue you on my worst day. The only way you can prove me wrong is waking up so get up." Alexis said.

They all waited and still there was no response.

"Alexis, you tried. Maybe we can try later." Robin said.

Alexis shook her head. She knew it was now or never.

"No I know he 's in there." Alexis said.

Alexis used all the energy she had left and stood up out of her chair and leaned closer to Ric.

"Ric! Wake up ! They are counting you out but I'm not. Do you hear me? I'm not! You need to wake up and prove them wrong. You need to wake up and prove me right because you know I hate more than anything to be wrong. Come on Ric!" Alexis said starting to cry.

Nikolas walked over to Alexis and tried to pull her away but she shrugged him off.

"No! Let me go!" Alexis yelled.

"Alexis your going to make yourself ill. Please stop this." Nikolas begged.

"No! He wouldn't give up on me so I'm not going to give up on him. He has got to much to live for." Alexis said then turned back to Ric.

"God dammit Ric, open your eyes! Open your eyes! Open your eyes." Alexis said then collapse on top of Ric's chest crying.

Alexis sobbed on Ric's chest and through each sob she asked Ric to open his eyes. Then she felt someone stroking her hair.

"Oh my god!" Emily said. "Alexis you did it."

Alexis turned her head and saw Ric's eyes were finally open and that it was his hand stroking her hair.

"Alexis we need to get in there so we can work. I need you step aside." Patrick said.

"Good work Alexis." Robin said.

"I knew he was in there." Alexis said as Nikolas helped her out of the way.

As Ric was being worked on and another nurse came in the room one of the cops stopped them as they were going inside.

"Hey what's going on ?" he asked.

"The patient is awake. Excuse me I have to get inside." the nurse said walking past the officer.

The officer took out his cell phone and dialed the station.

"Detective Spencer, it's Officer Barrett at the hospital. I just wanted to let you know that DA Lansing is awake. Ok, we'll see you and Agent Ward in about twenty minutes.

When the nurses and doctors were done checking Ric, Alexis was allowed to move back over to him. He looked so tired but his eyes were full of life. Ric looked up at Alexis and a small tear left his eye. She gently wiped away the tear and grabbed his hand that was slowly reaching up towards her.

Ric tried to talk to her but found that he was having a hard time. Alexis saw Ric's lips moving like he was trying to say something.

"Don't try to speak. You have a tube in your throat helping you to breathe. Your throat is going to sore for a little bit so don't speak." Alexis said.

Alexis wiped away a strand of hair away from Ric's face. He tightened his grip on Alexis' hand and she smiled at him.

"You heard me huh?" Alexis asked.

Ric slowly shook his head yes.

"You always said I had a big mouth that you could hear me a mile away. I guess you were right." Alexis said.

Ric laughed and started to cough.

"I'm sorry. Too soon for humor huh?" Alexis said.

Ric smiled and started to feel his eyes get heavy and wanted to go back to sleep.

Alexis kissed his head and looked into Ric's eyes.

"You go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Alexis said taking her seat next to him.

Nikolas walked up behind Alexis and hugged her. "You did it. You never gave up."

"I knew he was in there. Now you and Emily go to lunch. I'll be ok." Alexis said.

"You sure? We can stay or bring our lunch back here to sit with you." Nikolas said.

"No go. He's awake and ok so I'm ok. You two have a god time." Alexis said.

"Ok. I'll see you when I get back. Just promise if you need anything you'll call the nurse." Nikolas said.

"I promise." Alexis said.

Nikolas hugged Alexis then left the room with Emily and the others.

Alexis turned back to Ric while he slept soundly holding her hand with a smile on his face.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Lucky and Keesha walked off the elevator towards the nurses station. They asked for Patrick and Robin to be paged so they could get an update on Ric's condition. When the nurse advised they should be there shortly Lucky and Keesha walked over to the small lounge area to sit down and wait for them.

Lucky looked over to Keehsa who was texting something on her phone. He smiled as he watched her concentrate on what she was doing. It was so cute.

Things were progressing very slowly between them since the night they spent together and that was fine, if you consider warp speed slow. Lucky remembered waking up the next morning with Keesha in his arms. Somehow they had made it up to his room and into his bed. He remembered that they made love at least twice on the living room floor and may have one more time when they made into the room. When Lucky woke up that morning the images of that night came flooding back into his brain. He went to go try and sit up when he noticed Keesha lying securely in his arms. The feel of her there sent an unexpected shiver through him both then and now as he sat there watching her. There was something about being in her presence that calmed him and warmed him all the same time. While Keesha was still texting on her phone and seemed throughly distracted Lucky thought back to that morning and the conversation that took place between Keesha and him.

_Lucky's bedroom one week ago_

The sun shined bright through Lucky's bedroom window. The storm had passed as if nothing happened and in it's wake was a beautiful blue sky with birds chirping happily away. The sound of the birds and the rays of the sun beaming down on him were what brought Lucky out of a peaceful sleep. He hadn't slept like that in a long time. His nights seemed to be plagued with fits of restlessness since Elizabeth left. Lucky had become so used to another person's presence in his bed that the absence of it was driving him insane. Days weren't so bad because he was hardly at home but nights were the worst. They made him remember what he lost and what he knew he was never going to get back but this morning, this morning was different somehow. He just couldn't figure out why. The dread that he usually felt at waking up in the morning was gone. The coldness coming from the other side of the bed was no longer there. He hadn't even opened his eyes yet and he knew something in the room was different. Something made this a place he wanted to be in again. Then he heard it. It was the sound of someone breathing. Next he felt it. The feel of someone snuggling up next to him letting out a content sigh. Lucky's eyes shot open and his brain became fully awake. He looked down and saw the person laying in his arms was none other than the lovely and quite the bed hog Keesha ward.

Lucky chuckled lightly as he noticed very quickly that Keesha had him on the edge of the bed and had taken up most of the covers.

He felt Keesha readjust herself in his arms trying to find a comfortable position. Once she did she settled down and went back to sleep. What struck Lucky the most about that moment was that during that moment he pulled Keesha closer to him and her body fit him like glove. She molded right into him like she belonged there. The warmth of her body and her breath on his chest was such a good feeling. He didn't want it to end.

While the room was still quiet he laid there, held her, smelled her hair ,and let his hand stroke her sleeping form. Her skin was soft and thoughts of last night drifted through his brain. Images of them on the floor exploring and tasting each other floated back to him and he couldn't believe how vivid those memories were. The only thing he didn't remember was how they got up to his bedroom. The details of how they did didn't matter right now, what mattered was what the women sleeping in his arms would say when she woke up. Would she regret what they had done? Would she run out the room screaming that he took advantage of her during a vulnerable moment? All these thoughts made him more than a little nervous. So, he decided to do the only thing he could think of. Which was to quickly get out of bed before she woke up. Yeah, it was the cowards way out and he felt horrible doing that but if Keesha regretted anything that happened last night he would be heartbroken. Lightly as he could he started to move bust stopped when he felt a pinch on his side.

"Who said that my pillow could move?" Keesha said sleepily.

"Ouch." Lucky laughed while rubbing his side.

Keesha opened her eyes and the bright sun made her close them right back. She opened them slowly, letting the light in a little at a time then finally opening them fully to let the light and everything around her in.

The only reason why she had even woken up was because her pillow, namely Lucky had moved. She was enjoying having him so close. It was the first time in a long time that she felt comfortable enough to have someone so close to her. Usually she would have kicked the guy out or made up some excuse like she had to work in the morning and that's why they couldn't spend the night but when she had woken up in the middle of the night and found Lucky's strong arms holding her, she found that she was wasn't fleeing or looking for the exit. She liked where she was. She liked the feeling of Lucky against her, pulling her closer to him and kissing her head absentmindedly in his sleep. When she looked down she saw her fingers were intertwined with his and they were a perfect fit. Only once before had that every happened to her but that, was a another lifetime ago.

Keesha sat up looking at Lucky who was still rubbing his side from where she pinched him.

"Oh it wasn't that bad." Keesha said.

"Says the pincher. I think the pinchee knows better. Are you always this feisty in the morning?" Lucky asked.

Keesha giggled. "Only when someone pulls my nice warm pillow out from under me. Where were you off too?"

Lucky looked away while he was trying to think of something, anything, other than I was going to leave you in the bed because I didn't want to take the chance of you hating me or rejecting me. So, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I was...going to..go to the bathroom." Lucky said.

Keesha moved so that Lucky could go to the bathroom like he said. She watch as he threw on his underwear and quickly walked to the bathroom then shutting the door behind him.

Keesha sat there and shook her head. She knew what was going on. She'd played this game to many times with her being the one to make excuses to leave so she knew what Lucky was doing. He was running she thought. He was running away because he regretted what happened and he couldn't face her. Great she thought. I finally find a nice guy who made me fell more alive in one night than I have in years and I scared him off. Keesha suddenly felt the need to get out. She got out of bed and looked for her clothes. When she didn't see them she remembered that they must still be downstairs. Crap she said to herself. She looked around the room and saw Lucky's PCD shirt sitting on a chair in his room. Keehsa walked over to the chair and quickly put the shirt on. As the shirt fell over her face she smelled Lucky all over it. His scent was in ever inch of that shirt. When the soft fabric caressed her bare skin it was like Lucky was all over her again. Keesha was so enamored in the feel of the shirt she didn't hear Lucky come out of the bathroom.

Lucky had been in the bathroom long enough. To his surprise he really did have to go so the excuse was only a partial lie. When he walked back out he was greeted to an unexpected and most beautiful sight. There was Keesha standing there putting on his PCD shirt. He leaned up against the door frame of the bathroom and couldn't help but watch the show in front of him as she pulled the shirt over her naked body and let it fall over her slowly. The shirt hugged all the right curves and accentuated her already long legs. He looked on and stayed quiet not wanting to break the magic of what he was seeing. She was hugging the shirt to her and taking in his scent that was left on it. God, this girl never ceased to amaze him. She made such a simple things like smelling a shirt sexy and intimate all at the same time. He couldn't help himself when he whistled at her. He almost lost it when he watched her almost jump out of her skin.

"I'm sorry." He said laughing as he walked over to her.

"So not funny Spencer." she said as she met him halfway.

They stopped in front of the bed and looked at each other like two teenagers that just had sex for the first time. All nerves and not really know what to say after. So Keesha went first.

"Lucky I...I..." for some reason she could get the words out to tell him how she really felt about last night.

Lucky took it as she regretted what happened and that the look on her face showed it. He turned away from her not able to look at what he thought was disappointment or regret in her eyes. So he decided to clear the air since she couldn't.

"Keesha it's ok if you regret what happened last." Lucky said still unable to look at her. He wasn't able to hide the disappointment from his words or his body language.

Keesha couldn't believe what Lucky was saying to her. How could he think she regretted anything that happened last night? Foolish man she thought and stupid her for not letting him know how she felt the moment she woke up. Keesha placed her hand gently on Lucky's back and made him turn around to face her. She looked at his face and it looked like he had lost his best friend. She needed to tell him how she felt. No she thought, she needed to show him. Keesha tilted Lucky's face up to hers and kissed him just as she had last night with the same fire and passion. She felt Lucky's arms pull her in closer to him and the kiss deepened much to both his and her delight. By the time they pulled apart there was nothing but heavy breathing between them. Lucky touched his forehead to Keesha's as he tried to steady himself.

"Are you trying to tell me something Agent Ward?" Lucky said with smile.

Keesha giggled again and rolled her eyes. "Boys are so dense." she joked.

Now it was Lucky's turn to laugh.

"We can be. Sometimes we just need to hear things to understand better." Lucky said.

Keeshe looked into Lucky's eyes and loved how she could just get lost in them.

"Lucky, I don't regret anything that happened last night. I know we said we would take it slow and see where this goes but I'm not upset that we are where we are." Keesha said.

Lucky let out a breath that he had no idea he was holding. He was so happy to know that Keesha didn't regret anything. That last night held some meaning for her as well.

"I'm glad you told me that. I got very nervous this morning when you woke up. I was hoping that you had no regrets. Last night was definitely something I don't regret. It was spontaneous,sexy, and it just felt right. Did we take it slow? No, not by any means but like you said, I'm not upset where we are now." Lucky said.

"Is that why you went into the bathroom so quickly this morning?" Keesha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well partly. I really did need to go once I got in there. The other part was I couldn't handle the possibility of you thinking last night was not as great as I thought it was. Keesha you have no idea how wonderful it was to wake up with you in my arms this morning. It was like a void in my life was finally being filled with something other than loneliness and self pity. I was happy when I woke up this morning before I even opened up my eyes just because you where there." Lucky said.

Keesha intertwined her hands with Lucky and brought them up for him to see.

"You see that. That's what I saw last night when I woke up in your arms. I saw my fingers locked with yours and they fit like they were meant to be together. I felt you pull me closer to you and hold me in a way that no one has in a very long time. When I told you I suck at relationships I wasn't kidding. I'm usually the one who runs out the door or makes some excuse to leave because when everything was said in done, I always felt like there was no reason to stay. No reason to give more than just my body. Last night in your arms I felt this growing need to stay in them. To feel your warmth all around lulling me back into a peaceful and content sleep. If that's what you call regret then yes I regret it and I want to regret some more." Keesha said.

Lucky looked at their fingers together and looked passed the obvious difference of color and more to the way of how they did fit together. He placed his palm against hers and noticed that his hands were the same size as his. Whenever he did that to Elizabeth his hands always looked like a giant size compared to her tiny delicate ones. This time with Keesha, they seemed normal next to her dark elegant hand. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

They stood in silence for the next couple of minutes just holding each other and enjoying the feel of one another.

"So no regrets?" Lucky asked softly breaking the silence.

"None." Keesha said.

Suddenly Lucky's alarm clock went off and they both knew that it time to get ready and face the world.

"How about you take a shower while I get breakfast ready?" Keesha said.

"No, you cooked dinner last night so I got breakfast. What you can do is come downstairs with me and keep me company while I make breakfast because I really like you in my shirt and I wanna see you in it a little while longer." Lucky said.

"Oooo...Detective Spencer... you are a very naughty boy." Keesha said.

"You have no idea but I'll show you after breakfast when we take a nice shower together." Lucky said his voice husky with desire.

"I can't wait." Keesha said with delight.

Lucky grabbed Keesha's hand and they walked out the bedroom together and down the stairs towards the kitchen. When they got to the bottom step Keesha stopped and looked back up the stairs and then to Lucky with a puzzled look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Lucky asked.

"Nothing, I was just wondering. How the hell did we get upstairs?" Keesha asked.

Lucky lost it when she asked that question. He had been wondering the same thing.

"I have no idea. I was going to ask you. I'm just glad we did. C'mon let's eat." Lucky said walking to the kitchen with a still wondering Keesha in tow.

A smile came to Lucky's face as he remembered their shower activities that morning. Since that morning they agreed to try and take things a little slower and even tried the first couple nights away from each other but that didn't last when they kept finding ways to enter each other's room. They finally came to the conclusion that they just couldn't fight the urge to be without one another at night so Keesha started sleeping in Lucky's room. They did however decided that it was just sleeping. No sex, but that too was starting to wear thin on both of them.

Lucky was brought out his thoughts when he heard two loud girlish squeals. He looked up to see Robin and Keesha hugging each other and poor Patrick trying to recover from being to close to the ear splitting noise they just let out.

"Oh my god Keesha you look so good! Is my dad treating you ok? You let me know if he's not." Robin said.

"Me? Look at you! You look so beautiful and you]re a mommy now. Robert keeps a picture of you and Emma on his desk. I see it everyday when I'm in his office. You should see the look of pride on his face. He loves being a grandfather. Don't let him tell you any different. So... I see you did find the love of your life since we last saw each other in Paris." Keesha said.

Robin blushed a little and Patrick smiled.

"Yes, I did. Keesha this is my husband Patrick Drake and Patrick this is one of my dear High School friends Keesha Ward. Who I have missed so much. We have so much to catch up on." Robin said.

"It's good to meet you Keesha. Robin talks about you whenever she pulls out her High School photo album and pictures of you two in Paris." Patrick said.

"So what brings you here?" Robin asked.

"Keesha and I are working on Ric's case together. I got a call from one of the officer's guarding Ric's room tell me he was awake. Can we see him?" Lucky asked.

Patrick bristled at Lucky's question. He hated when the police were in such a hurry like this. He knew knew that had a job to trying to catch the person who put Ric in the hospital but the patient needed to recover. Not be badgered by the police and their non-stop questions.

"Look he really needs the time to rest." Patrick said.

"I know that Patrick but the person who did this is still out there and we need Ric to tell us what happened. He's the only chance we have at nailing this guy and trying to figure out how big this thing really is." Lucky said.

Keesha and Robin looked back and forth at Patrick and Lucky and knew this was soon going to turn in to a pissing match where no one would win. It was time for cooler heads to step in.

"Well how about we compromise?" Keesha said.

"Good idea." Robin said.

"I'm listening." Patrick said.

"Ok. How about when we speak to Ric and you be in the room with us when we question him?" Keesha said.

"And if anything happens then you can always step in to take over." Robin said.

Keesha laid her hand on Lucky's shoulder and she feel him relax under her touch. She didn't noticed the smile across Robin's face when she noticed the gentle interaction between them. Robin knew she and Keesha were most definitely catching up now. She thought this might call for a trip to Jake's with the girls.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Lucky said turning to Keesha and smiling.

Robin looked at Patrick and he melted when his wife looked at him with pleading eyes. She always knew how to tug at his heartstrings like no other women could.

"Alright but at the first sign of anything. The interview is over. Are we clear?" Patrick asked.

"Crystal." Keesha said.

"Lead the way Doc." Lucky said as they all followed Patrick towards Ric's room.

Elizabeth was getting some items from one of the supply closet to stock up one of her patients rooms. Once she got what she needed she headed out of the room and started walking towards the patients room. She stopped when she thought she heard a familiar voices in the hallway. She turned around to see that it was Robin ,Patrick, and then Lucky. Elizabeth was going to call out to them when something stopped her. It was the person who was walking next to Lucky. The women next to him looked awfully familiar but Elizabeth couldn't place her. What she could place is the happy expression on Lucky's face while talking to her. It had been a very long time since she seen that look on his face. That look brought a smile to her face and something else she didn't expect to feel. It was a sense of relief. Relief that Lucky was finally starting to let go of the past. Finally starting to move on from their now dead relationship. Now there would be no more feelings of guilt on her part for being so happy with Jason. She would have to tell Jason about the mystery women that Lucky was with during lunch at Kelly's during her break. She looked at her watch and saw that she had ten minutes until her break so she quickly walked off towards her patients room to drop off the supplies and then it was off to see Jason.

There was a knock at the door that Alexis was thankful for because it brought her out of another one of her nightmares about Ric. She looked over to Ric and was glad to see that her nightmares were not true and that he was still alive and still holding on to her hand while he slept.

There was another soft knock at the door and Alexis told whoever it was to come in.

Alexis turned around to be greeted once again by Patrick and Robin and behind them walked in Lucky with another face she hadn't seen before.

"Back so soon? And who did you bring along for the ride?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis, this is Agent Keesha Ward. She is with the WSB and my partner on this case." Lucky said.

"Your partner? What happened to Rodriguez?" Alexis asked.

"He's still my partner. This is only temporary while we work on Ric's case." Lucky said.

Keesha stepped forward and offered her hand to Alexis.

"Miss Davis I'm so very glad to meet you finally. I read the brief you wrote about the Ericson case last year. It was brilliant." Keesha said.

Alexis took Keesha's hand and smiled. "You read it huh? Thought it was was brilliant? I like you already. She's a keeper Lucky."

Just behind Keesha was Lucky making a kissing noise like she was sucking up. For that he received a quick elbow to the stomach. Keesha leaned over to Lucky and whispered to him.

"Watch it Spencer. I know where you live."

Lucky smiled and rubbed his stomach where Keesha hit him.

Robin looked over to Lucky and saw him rubbing his stomach.

"Lucky are you ok?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Pulled a muscle in the shower this morning. Nothing to worry about." Lucky said.

Robin nodded then turned her attention back to what was going on.

Alexis looked at Lucky and Agent Ward and her legal mind started putting some pieces of the puzzle together.

"If your with the WSB and here with Port Charles PD then this thing must be bigger then you originally thought. Something big is going on and Ric's just the tip of the iceberg. Am I right?" Alexis asked.

Lucky was surprised that Alexis put things together so fast. But he should have known, she was DA of Port Charles at one time, so cases like this were really nothing new to her. Now he just needed to figure out how much to tell her without giving his whole case away.

"You're right Alexis. Ric is just the tip of the iceberg. There is more going on here and we are just starting to put things together. That's why we need to speak to Ric now. He's the only one who can give us the clues we need to finding out who did this to him." Lucky said.

Alexis knew better than anyone how important it was to get the victim's statement as soon as possible. Any little clue they could give could possible help solve the case. There were many times just like this one where the victim was injured and needed to be awakened before they were truly ready to be. Most of those times there were angry family members arguing for their loved one not to be badgered with the constant questions the officer or detectives would have. Alexis never understood why people would want to stand in the way of an investigation that could possible solve a crime and help find out who put the one they care for in the hospital in the first place. She would go back forth, sometimes pleading, sometimes yelling, for their cooperation. More often than not she would get people to cooperate and then win the case making all the discomfort everyone involved suffered well worth the headache. Now at this very moment with Ric she understood why the families fought so hard for for their loved ones not to be disturbed. There was a serious struggle going on inside her between the wife and the lawyer. The wife inside of her screamed for them all to go away and leave him alone while the lawyer in her knew that she had a duty to make sure that the bastard that did this to him was caught. The battle didn't last long because as always the lawyer in her won out. That side of her knew, that if Ric was to be safe then he needed to help and tell all that he knew.

"Do what you need to do Lucky." Alexis said.

"Thank you Alexis. Can you wake him?" Lucky said.

Alexis nodded then proceeded to call Ric's name. At first he didn't respond when she called him and that made Alexis worried. She called his name again and gently touched her finger to his face. His eyes opened this time for her and she smiled down at him.

"Hey sleepy head. You have visitors. You up to seeing them?" Alexis asked.

Alexis watched as Ric slowly shook his head.

"Listen, I'm going to examine him first and ask him some questions just to gage his responses. Just basic things like his name, if he recognizes people in the room, knows where he's at, stuff like that. If he answers those questions ok he's all yours." Patrick said.

"That's fine. We're ready when you are." Lucky said.

Patrick walked over and started to examine Ric. Once he saw that Ric's pupils were equal and reacting to the light he started taking his vitals. Satisfied with the results Patrick moved on.

"Hey Ric, I know it's kinda hard to talk with the tube down your throat and I'm sorry about that. If you continuing to improve the way you are the tube will be out tomorrow. Now, I'm going to ask some questions just to gage how you're doing. Just some basic stuff ok? If you understand me just nod." Patrick said

Patrick watched as Ric nodded. "Good, now I have a pen and a pad for you to write on ok? Lets's see if we can sit you up here." Patrick pushed the buttons on the bed so Ric could sit up a little better to be able to write. Once he saw that Ric was at the right angle he passed the pad and pen to Alexis. She placed the pen in Ric's hand with the pad underneath and listened closely as Patrick started his questions.

"Ok Ric, here's your first question it's an easy one. What's your name?" Patrick asked.

Alexis looked at the pad and watched as Ric wrote something bdown then laughed when he was done.

"What did he write?" Robin asked.

"Bugs Bunny." Alexis said as the room broke out in laughter.

"You must be feeling better because your being a smart ass. Now just tell us your name?" Alexis chuckled.

Ric wrote again and this time he wrote his name.

"Next question. Do you know where you are?" Patrick asked.

"Hospital." Alexis said.

"Good." Patrick smile. "Do you know who that lovely women is standing next to you is?" Patrick asked.

Ric looked over to Alexis and smiled as best as he could then wrote his answer down.

Alexis looked at what he wrote and couldn't help but start to get misty eyed.

"He wrote my wife." Alexis said.

"Good job Ric. Now I have someone else here who needs to talk to you." Patrick said waving Lucky and Keesha over.

"Do you remember who this is Ric?" Patrick asked.

"Lucky Spencer." Alexis said.

Ric looked over to the women standing next to Lucky and wrote down his question.

"New partner?" Alexis said.

Lucky smiled. "No I still have Rodriguez. This is Agent Keesha Ward with the WSB. She will be partnered with me during my investigation." Lucky said.

"It's good to meet you sir." Keesha said.

Alexis looked back at the pad as Ric wrote down something else. She looked at what he wrote and tried to stifle a laugh at what he wrote.

"What?" Lucky asked.

"He wrote he likes her better. Keep her." Alexis chuckled.

Despite himself Lucky smiled. It was no secret that Rodriguez and Ric never got along. The arguments they would have over cases where legendary, so he could see why that after only meeting Keesha for thirty seconds she would be an improvement over what he normally had to deal with.

"I'll let him know you said that." Lucky said then stepped closer to Ric.

"Ric, I'm sorry to be asking these questions while you are recovering and I'll try to make it quick so you can rest. Can you tell me what you remember about what happened to you?" Lucky asked.

Alexis watched as Ric wrote something down on the pad. It took her a second to try and understand what he wrote but once it was done she had to try and hide her reaction from Ric.

Lucky looked over at Alexis and caught her reaction to what what Ric wrote. Whatever it was upset her and she was trying to hide it.

"Ric honey, I need to talk to Lucky and Patrick for a second." Alexis said.

Alexis watched Ric right something down and smiled.

"No, everything is fine. I'm just concerned about the stress this is having on you. Gimme a minute ok." Alexis said.

Alexis walked out the room with Lucky and Patrick right behind her. They followed her a few feet away from the room and they both watched as she paced back and forth in the hallway like a caged animal.

Lucky touched Alexis' arm to get her to stop and turned her towards him.

"Somethings wrong?" Alexis said.

"What do you mean somethings wrong?" Patrick asked.

"Alexis what did he write down?" Lucky asked.

"The train wreck. He wanted to know if we caught Manny and if the baby was ok?" Alexis said.

"The train wreck?" Patrick asked.

It took Lucky a second but then he remembered.

"The one that Manny caused almost killing everyone we know and causing Alexis to go into early labor. That was... " Lucky was interrupted by Alexis.

"A year and half ago. There is something wrong with his memory."Alexis said getting agitated.

"Yeah but he remembered that Rodriguez was my partner. At the time of the train wreck Jessie was my partner not Cruz. So maybe it's not all bad." Lucky said

"Patrick, what does all this mean?" Alexis asked.

"It could mean a lot of things but I won't know until I get Ric in for tests. I also want Lainey to talk to Ric. Maybe there is something psychological going on here." Patrick said.

"So what do we do in the meantime? Ric isn't stupid. He'll know something is wrong. What do we tell him?" Alexis said.

"Until I know what's going on with him I'm not sure how this he is going to react knowing what happened to him." Patrick said.

"So what? We lie to him then?" Lucky asked.

"It's not really lying to him. Everything you are telling him already happened so it's not a lie. Look, all I'm saying is that we don't know what caused Ric's amnesia so I don't wanna take the chance of the truth causing anymore damage. So for right now I say stick to the train story until the test are done. What do you think Alexis?" Patrick asked.

Alexis listened to both Lucky and Patrick and knew they were both right but she could only make one decision so she went with the one that was best for Ric.

"We lie. When are you going to do those test?" Alexis asked hoping she was doing the right thing.

"Tomorrow morning after we remove the tube from his throat." Patrick said.

"Good. Now when we got back in there let me do the talking. Ric will see right through the both of you. You both just follow my lead." Alexis said.

Alexis walked in with Patrick and Lucky right behind her. She walked over to Ric who immediately started writing on his pad. Alexis looked down at the pad and smiled.

"Yes nosey, everything is ok. I just had to talk to Patrick and Lucky because I don't want them tiring you out with questions. Patrick reassured me that Lucky asking you questions shouldn't be too much for you. Now the answer to your question is yes. Manny was caught and our little girl is just fine." Alexis said.

Ric wrote on the pad again to Alexis.

"Her name is Molly. I can't bring her here yet for you to see her but I did take pictures of her so I'll bring those for you to see. Now, Lucky needs to talk to you about what you can remember. You and I can talk later about Molly." Alexis said.

Lucky played along and spoke to Ric for about twenty minutes about the train wreck. It had been awhile since the incident and Lucky surprised himself at how much he remembered about it. What surprised him even more was Ric was going right along with it. Every question he asked Lucky or Alexis had an answer that seemed to satisfy Ric.

Keesha in the mean time stayed quiet during the whole thing and just let Lucky talk. She didn't understand what was going on but figured that Lucky would explain later why he wasn't talking about the shooting.

Patrick looked over at Ric and could see that he was getting a little tired and that this charade they were playing was starting to wear on everyone that knew what was going on.

"I think that's all for today. I don't want Ric getting too worn out." Patrick said.

Ric wrote on his pad and Alexis looked down at then shook her head no.

"I know you can go on but I think Patrick is right. You shouldn't push yourself too hard. If Lucky needs you he knows where to find you." Alexis said.

"Yeah. Besides we have other people we need to interview. You just take care of yourself and if I need anything else I can get with you or Alexis. Take care Ric. Robin, Patrick, Alexis, I'll see you guys later." Lucky said.

"Miss Davis, DA Lansing, it was good to meet you both. Take care." Keesha said.

As Keesha and Lucky walked towards the door Robin excused herself and followed them out the door. Once all three of them were a few feet away from the room Lucky informed Keesha and Robin about Ric and the problems with his memory and why the three of them did what they did.

"I was wondering why you were talking about that and not the shooting. How long ago was this train wreck?" Keesha asked.

"A year and a half ago but like I told Patrick, Ric mentioned Rodriguez and he wasn't my partner then so maybe somewhere in Ric's brain lies the clues we are looking for." Lucky said.

"Well between Patrick and Lainey I'm sure they will be able to help Ric and his memory. Look I gotta go but it was really good seeing you Keesha. We have to get together. Wait I know, the girls usually get together and go to a bar named Jake's on Friday nights. You have to come." Robin said.

"Well, let me see what my schedule is on Friday. Depending on how things go with this case I may not have anytime. So no promises but I will try. Now come here and give me another hug." Keesha said.

Robin walked over to her friend and gave her a big hug. She really hadn't realized how much she missed her High School friend.

"I'm so glad you're back. It's really good to see you again Keesha. It feels like old times." Robin said.

Keesha pulled out of the hug and looked at her friend. She couldn't get over how Robin looked pretty much the same as she did in High School and that she still had the same sparkle in her eye that always made Keesha smile. Lucky was right. There are still people in this town that care about her and Robin was one of them.

"It's good to see you too Robin. You take care and I will call you about Jake's" Keesha said.

"See ya Robin." Lucky said.

Lucky and Keesha started walking towards the elevators discussing the case after Robin said her good byes to them.

"So, now that our lead witness has no memory of what happened what should be our next move Agent Ward?" Lucky asked while pushing the down button.

Keesha smirked as Lucky used her tittle.

"Well Detective Spencer, I think we should return to the scene of the crime and then look at Ric's computer files at the station and see what we can find." Keesha said.

"ET's went through that area with a fine tooth comb. I don't think we'll find anything at the crime scene." Lucky said.

"Humor me Lucky. I just keep thinking there is something there that we may have missed. I'm going to call the station and have Cates send the evidence list to my Blackberry. I wanna go over it again when we get there as well as everything else. We need to get in this guys head and retrace his steps before this case gets any colder." Keesha said.

As the elevator doors opened and they stepped in Lucky had an idea as the doors closed.

"Are you going to press the Lobby button or we gonna stay in the elevator all day?" Keesha asked.

"Sorry. I just had an idea and I got distracted." Lucky said pressing the lobby button.

"What's up?" Keesha asked.

"Well it was when you said get in the guys head. I was wondering if the 911 call picked up anything? A voice or the conversation between Ric and the suspect. Maybe that might help us get into this guys head."Lucky said.

Keesha watched as Lucky called on his cell phone to the dispatch supervisor and asked for a copy of the 911 call Ric made.

"Yeah, I need it asap. You're the best. I will deliver the usual fee when I pick up the tape. Thanks bye." Lucky said.

"You're usual fee?" Keesha asked as they walked out of the elevator towards the exit.

Lucky looked at Keehsa and smirked as they made their way to the car.

"Uh-huh. My dispatchers are the best at what they do and even better when you treat them right. All they ask for is a fee for the service they provide." Lucky said.

"And what fee would that be?" Keesha asked as they reached the car.

"What every women wants." Lucky smiled.

"Sex?"Keesha asked.

"No! Chocolate. My dispatchers love chocolate. Get your mind out of the gutter Agent Ward." Lucky laughed.

"Sorry but if I were that dispatch supervisor and I saw you walking into my office I don't think chocolate would be enough for me." Keesha said.

"I know that was supposed to be sexy but I can't help but get creeped out because the supervisor is a sixty-six year old grandmother of two with a voice like Roz from Monsters Inc." Lucky said.

Keesha completely lost it and started laughing so hard she was crying.

"This is not funny. You have no idea the images that are running through my head now thanks to you." Lucky said.

Keesha wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Lucky who truly looked disturbed by the pictures his mind was creating.

"Oh Lucky honey, I'm so sorry." Keesha managed to get out through her snickering.

Lucky was about to start the car when he noticed what Keesha said to him.

"Did you just call me honey? So we have graduated to pet names?" Lucky smiled.

"I guess we have." Keesha said.

"That means I have to find a name for you. What do you think of sweetie, sugar, darlin', baby girl, brown sugar, or Rodriguez's favorite sweet thang?" Lucky chuckled.

"I think you should start the car Detective. You have a tape to collect." Keesha said.

Lucky started the car and headed out of the parking lot of the hospital teasing Keesha along the way with more horrible pet names for her.

Meanwhile back up in Ric's room Alexis was still answering some of the questions Ric had. She knew he knew something was wrong by the questions he continuing to ask her but she careful not to say anything that would clue him in on what was really going on.

While Ric wrote down another question she let a yawn escape her lips. Ric scratched out what he was going to write and wrote another question instead. Alexis looked at Ric shook her head yes.

"I'm only a lit bit tired. Nothing to worry about." Alexis said.

She was lying. Alexis was exhausted. Both emotionally and physically. The chemotherapy had drained her body of all it's energy and she was running on empty. The only thing keeping her awake was the adrenaline from Ric being awake. As soon as that was gone she knew she would crash. She just hoped that it wasn't in front of Ric.

Ric looked at Alexis and could see she was tired and that she looked like hell. He felt bad asking her so many questions but she was his only resource of information. Ric knew Alexis was not telling him the whole truth about what happened to him and that maybe right now would not be the best time to press the subject. Which was fine because right now he was just glad that he was alive and with the women he loved. He decided to ask one last question before letting Alexis rest.

Alexis saw Ric's hand moving and knew he was writing yet another question. She really wasn't in the mood to keep lying to him but once she read the question she rationalized that she wouldn't be lying to Ric when it came to the answer. She would just be telling him something that he technically already knew. She looked at Ric and smiled. She took the pad out of his hand and sat down in the spot where the pad was and looked at him. Alexis took Ric's hand in hers and looked into those eyes that she thought she might never see open again and started to answer his question.

"You wanted to know about more about Molly? That's one topic I never mind talking about. Let's see where do I start. Well she's a fighter just like her parents. It was a little touch and go for after they got her out of the tunnel but she held on. That kid is going to be tough as nails when she gets older and she...Ric...she's beautiful." Alexis sobbed out.

Alexis didn't mean to start crying but the memory of having Molly in the tunnel and almost dying while giving birth to her was still something she didn't like to think about. They all came pretty damn close to losing their lives thanks to that maniac Manny and Molly could have been one of his causalities. The decision to represent him haunts her everytime she holds Molly in her arms.

Alexis took a moment and wiped her eyes then quickly composed herself. She felt Ric tighten his grip on her hand just like he did when she was giving birth to Molly. He was so supportive that day and even though she wouldn't have admitted it to him then, she was grateful for his presence and the love he showed her during that time.

"I'm sorry. It's just hard thinking about that day and what we almost lost. Um..where was I..oh yes...beautiful. She is so beautiful and she looks like you more than me. As a matter fact both girls look more like their fathers. Not that it's bad thing but I think after nine months of carrying them I should have gotten a little more than she has my nose." Alexis said.

Ric tried to chuckle but the damn tube made it hard for him to laugh. He loved to hear Alexis go off on tangents like this. It was so her. As he listened to her talk more about Molly he couldn't shake the feeling like he hadn't heard Alexis' voice in a long time. Her voice was a comfort that he latched on to and never wanted to let go of.

"What else...ah her eyes. She has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. They are blue like the ocean. When you look into them you feel like you could get lost in the depths of them. The doctors say she will loose the color and that they will turn brown but I think they are wrong. And she is stubborn. Boy is she stubborn. Wonder where she got that trait from? I know. I know. You don't have to tell me. She got it from you." Alexis said.

Ric was able to raise an eyebrow at Alexis and she laughed at the look he was giving her.

"Ok, maybe be she got some of that from me as well. The nurses learned quickly how stubborn she could be when they tried to feed her. She didn't want any of them to feed her only..y..she only wanted family. I couldn't feed her because I was being treated myself so Nikolas had to do it. As soon as she was in his arms she looked up at him then quieted down and took her bottle." Alexis realized she almost messed up by saying you. She knew she couldn't afford to make that mistake again. So she decided that this conversation needed to end.

"Anyway, she's perfect Ric. When you see her you will fall head over heals in love with her. Look, it's been a long day and although I would love to tell you more about our daughter I really need to rest and so do you. Do you mind if I get some sleep?" Alexis said.

Ric shook his head no then made a sign with his hand that he wanted to write something down.

Alexis grabbed the pen and the pad and gave it back to Ric as she moved out of the way so he could write. She looked down at what he wrote and felt her eyes start to sting with tears again.

"You don't have to thank me for telling you about our daughter. It was my pleasure." Alexis said.

There was a knock on the door and a nurse poked her head through the door.

"Hello, is it alright if I come take to Mr. Lansing's vitals? I also have a black blanket here courtesy of Mr. Cassadine for you Miss Davis." the nurse said.

"It's fine and thank you. I'm just going to get some sleep while you do that." Alexis said taking the blanket from the nurse.

She got up off of Ric's bed and kissed his head then moved out of the way for the nurse. Alexis slowly made her way over to her bed and crawled under the blankets. They were so warm and inviting and she was glad to be underneath them. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was the nurse taking Ric's vitals. She fell asleep soundly knowing that Ric was alive and with the words that he had written on the pad were just for her. It was three little words that she had missed so much. I love you.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the General Hospital characters.**

_Previously on General Hospital_

_"Ric! Wake up ! They are counting you out but I'm not. Do you hear me? I'm not! You need to wake up and prove them wrong. You need to wake up and prove me right because you know I hate more than anything to be wrong. Come on Ric!" Alexis said starting to cry._

_Nikolas walked over to Alexis and tried to pull her away but she shrugged him off._

_"No! Let me go!" Alexis yelled._

_"Alexis your going to make yourself ill. Please stop this." Nikolas begged._

_"No! He wouldn't give up on me so I'm not going to give up on him. He has got to much to live for." Alexis said then turned back to Ric._

_"God dammit Ric, open your eyes! Open your eyes! Open your eyes." Alexis said then collapse on top of Ric's chest crying._

_Alexis sobbed on Ric's chest and through each sob she asked Ric to open his eyes. Then she felt someone stroking her hair._

_"Oh my god!" Emily said. "Alexis you did it."_

_Alexis turned her head and saw Ric's eyes were finally open and that it was his hand stroking her hair._

* * *

Elizabeth walked into Kelly's and was starving. She needed food and needed it now. As she walked in she heard someone calling her name.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth over here."

Elizabeth looked and saw that it was Lulu calling her name from behind the counter area. Elizabeth walked over to Lulu who was wavering her over to the counter.

"Hey Lulu what's up?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jason called and he said he will be a couple of minutes late to meet you for lunch. He said don't wait for him just order because he knows you're on your lunch break." Lulu said.

"Ok, tell you what then, I'll have my usual at the table by the jukebox. Thanks Lulu." Elizabeth said.

"Sure, I'll get it started." Lulu said then quickly disappeared in the back to give the cook Elizabeth's order.

Elizabeth walked over to her table and sat down. While sitting there her mind started to wander and thoughts of Jason came through and comforted her like a warm blanket. She hoped that Jason was only going to be a couple minutes late because she really missed him. They had only seen each other briefly this past week due to his "job" and her increased work load at the hospital. She really needed to see his face and be in his presence if only for a short time.

Elizabeth's then drifted to the scene of Lucky and the mystery woman in the hospital. Elizabeth couldn't shake the feeling like she had seen the woman before today but for the life of couldn't remember from where. It was really starting to bug her. Not because she was was jealous by any means but she wanted to make sure that Lucky would be ok. They were still friends after all and friends looked out for each other. The way she looked at is if Lucky and the mystery woman where to get serious then she would be around her boys and that was justification enough for Elizabeth to be little nosy.

Elizabeth thoughts were soon broken up by the smell of food coming her way. She looked over to Lulu who was carrying a hot plate of Elizabeth's usual, a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, fries, and a side salad. Lulu placed the plate down and before she could remove her hand Elizabeth attacked her sandwich.

"Whoa. Hungry are we? Can I place your salad down or are you gonna to eat my hand?" Lulu asked.

Elizabeth looked up at Lulu after she swallowed and giggled as she turned red.

"Lulu, I'm so sorry. I'm starving and the food smelled so good that I jumped right in. I promise your hands are safe." Elizabeth said.

"Ok, well here is your salad and your dressing. Oh crap, I forgot your drink. Do you want soda, water, sweet ice tea?" Lulu asked.

"Sweet Ice tea sounds really good. No lemon. Thanks Lulu." Elizabeth said.

"Ok, I'll be right back." Lulu was about to walk away when she heard the bell to the door ring and she looked over to see Jason walking through the door. "Hey Jason! What can I get you?"

Jason looked over to see Lulu waiting on Elizabeth who already had her lunch in front of her.

"Hey Lulu, I'll just have fries and a soda." Jason said.

"You got it. I'll go and put that order in and get your sweet tea." Lulu said then headed off towards the kitchen.

Jason walked over to the table Elizabeth was sitting at and kissed her on the lips earning him a content sigh from his girlfriend. He smiled down at her and then sat down at the table. Jason reached out to grab a fry from Elizabeth's plate which earned him a playful smack on his hand.

"I almost bit Lulu's hand off because I was hungry so you better be careful. Besides yours is coming." Elizabeth said.

"You're not going to share with me?" Jason said.

Elizabeth looked at Jason and couldn't resist those blue eyes of his. She pushed her plate over to him and the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile.

"Thank you." Jason said as he took a fry.

"Your welcome. So, how was your day?" Elizabeth asked while taking another bite of her sandwich.

"It's been so so. Nothing out of the ordinary since Ric's shooting." Jason said flatly.

"That's good right? I mean no news is good news right?" Elizabeth said.

"Not in this town. A quiet front means something is coming and I'm just trying to be prepared. The problem is I don't know what's coming and it's bugging me." Jason said pushing the plate back towards Elizabeth.

Elizabeth could see that more than just Ric's shooting was bothering Jason. He seemed very distracted. Elizabeth knew there were some questions you don't ask when it came to Jason's line of work but it seemed like it was more than just work. Elizabeth smiled and thought maybe a change of subject might put Jason in a better mood.

"Hey, guess what I saw today?" Elizabeth asked taking a fry into her mouth.

"What?" Jason asked as Lulu gave him his fries and soda and Elizabeth her ice tea.

"Lucky was with someone this afternoon at the hospital. They looked pretty cozy." Elizabeth said.

Jason was about to take a fry from his plate but stopped. He wasn't much into gossip especially when it was about Lucky but if it was about who he thought it was his interest was suddenly peaked.

"Oh? Who was was he with?" Jason said now eating.

"I don't know. She looked familiar like I have seen her before but for the life of me I can't place her face." Elizabeth said.

"What did she look like?" Jason said.

"She's dark skin, very pretty, and was dressed in a nice business suit. She looked like she might be a cop by the way she carried herself. What really brought them to my attention was the way she and Lucky were looking at each other." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"How did they look?" Jason asked.

"They looked happy. It was nice to see Lucky smiling and laughing again." Elizabeth said.

Jason felt that long lost place inside of him stirring again. That Jason Quartermain side of him was not happy with what he just heard. He didn't like the fact that Keesha was with another guy and that she looked happy. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to make her smile. Most of all... he wanted to be with her.

Elizabeth watched Jason's reaction and it took her second but she noticed that Jason was getting upset about what he just heard. She couldn't understand why he would be upset. Unless he knew her she thought. Elizabeth had to know what Jason knew. What about this woman caused him to become so upset?

"I wonder what about this mystery women has both my ex and you so pre-occupied?" Elizabeth said.

Jason looked at Elizabeth and then back down at his fries. He started to push them around with his finger when Elizabeth moved the plate away.

"Jason, you know her don't you? Who is she?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason sat back in his chair and took a deep breath in and then let it out before he answered Elizabeth.

"Her name is Keesha Ward and yes I know her. Well knew her. It's complicated Elizabeth." Jason said.

Elizabeth grabbed Jason's hand then moved her chair closer to him and leaned her head his shoulder. Jason kissed the top of her head and took in the scent of her hair which was a mix of vanilla and coconut from the shampoo he loved. He closed his eyes and wished that the conflict he was feeling would just go away. These feelings that he was feeling for Keesha were not his own and he hated having them. They were the long dead memories of someone who no longer existed. Someone the doctors said would never come back but everyday since Keesha's return Jason felt a little piece of himself slipping away.

The only thing on his mind thanks to Jason Quartermain was Keesha. Since she came back in to town Jason felt the need to be near her, to find her, to hold her close and never let her go. Everyday Jason was finding it harder and harder to keep in control of who he was. It took him a long time to remove that stigma of Jason Quartermain from him and for people to come to terms that he was now Jason Morgan and he was going to stay Jason Morgan. He wasn't about to lose his independence to ghost.

Jason took in Elizabeth's scent again and it helped center him and keep him focused. He was able to push Jason Quartermain away and quiet him down once again. Jason felt Elizabeth tighten her hold on his hand. It was a quiet gesture letting him know that she was there and would wait until he was ready to tell her.

"Elizabeth, there's so much I need to tell you. I've been holding a lot of stuff in because... well... you know how I am." Jason said.

"I know. The strong silent type. That's what I love and accept about you Jason. I know that you don't always say how you feel in words. You do it more with gestures and acts of kindness that say more than words ever could. Jason you have such a big heart and you are capable of so much love that it just blows my mind that you gave your heart to me." Elizabeth said.

"Of course I gave it to you. There are people in my life that asked me to change who I am but, you, Sonny, and Carly are the only ones who never asked me to be anything other than just Jason Morgan. Not one of you tried to mold me into an image of what you wanted. You just accepted me for me." Jason said.

Elizabeth sat up and looked Jason in the eye. Never loosing eye contact with him.

"Is that what's bothering you Jason? Is someone asking you to change? Do you think I'm making you change by moving in with you?" Elizabeth asked.

"What! No." Jason said.

Jason cupped Elizabeth's face in his hands and pulled her face to his lips and kissed her. He slowly pulled out of the kiss and stroked the side of her face.

"You listen to me, I never regretted asking you and the boys to move in with me. You, Jake, and Cameron are my family. I love all of you. You are my life." Jason said.

"Then Jason what is it? Who is asking you to change?" Elizabeth asked.

"Jason Quartermain is." Jason huffed out.

Elizabeth jerked away from Jason. She didn't understand how Jason Quartermain fit into this whole thing.

"Jason, you're not making sense. How is Jason Quartermain asking you to change when you are him. I mean he doesn't exist any more." Elizabeth said.

"That's what I thought. I mean the doctors said that since the accident that the Jason Quartermain part of me was virtually gone and that I will never regain that part of my life. I accepted that and never looked back but now somethings changed. Something is making that part of me try and resurface." Jason said.

Elizabeth was still trying to piece all of this together. When Jason said it was complicated he wasn't kidding. She knew that Jason was leaving out some parts of the puzzle and that's what she needed to sort this whole thing out.

"Jason, your leaving something out here. How does Keesha Ward fit into all of this?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason looked away from Elizabeth. He knew that telling her this might hurt her and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Elizabeth gently turned Jason's face to hers.

"No matter what you tell me, I'm not going anywhere. Do you hear me?"Elizabeth said.

Jason nodded and began filling Elizabeth in.

"Keesha Ward is not just some random acquaintance of Jason Quarterman's or mine. She was his High School sweetheart". Jason said.

That's why she looked so famaliar Elizabeth thought. They all went to High School together.

"They were together for a long time then fate stepped in when he got in the car with AJ and the Jason she knew was taken away and replaced with someone who didn't know her or care about her. When she came to me after the accident I was so awful to her. The more she tried to make me remember her and what they had the harder I pushed her away. I didn't want to know what they had or the love they shared. As far as I was concerned Jason Quartermain was as good as dead and he was never coming back and the only way I knew how to make sure that happened was to destroy the one thing he cared about and that was Keesha. I did everything I could to break her and the horrible thing was that I enjoyed it. I enjoyed turning her life in to a living hell because I was sending her and everyone else that loved Jason Quartermain a message. That message was that Jason Quartermain no longer lived here. He was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. The final day I saw Keesha, I was in the weight room of the Quartermain's and she came to try one last time to get me to see that she loved me and would try and accept me for who I was. I looked into her eyes as she told me that she loved me and all I could see was that she was looking for any sign of Jason Quartermain. She wasn't looking to be with me like she said she was, she was still looking to be with him. I was so angry at her that I called her a whore and other names that sent her into a tail spin. She started crying and begged me to stop but I didn't. Her tears weren't enough for me, I wanted more. I wanted her to hurt like I felt she hurt me so I kept going until the anger I was felt was gone. Even after what I just put her through she still tried one last time to reach the man she loved. She reached up to me and kissed me on the lips with all the love she had for him and when she was done I threw her to ground and laughed at her. I told her that I guess he didn't love her enough to come back. That was when I knew I broke her. She ran out the weight room and I never saw her again until Justice's funeral. I knew that I shouldn't but I tried to speak to her and tell her that I was wrong for all the things I said and that it was just the talk of a angry young man but she didn't want to hear me. She told me that I broke her heart one time to many and to just leave her alone. So I did as she asked and walked away." Jason said.

"What changed this time when you saw her?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason shook his head. "I don't know . Guilt maybe. Guilt for leaving things the way I did. Never letting her say good bye. Treating her the way I did. There are many things I'm sorry for." Jason said.

"Do you think this is why you're feeling the way you feel? That there is still some deep seeded need for her?" Elizabeth said.

"I don't know. I just don't know." Jason said.

Elizabeth was blown away by what she just heard. This was not what she was expecting to hear when she agreed to have lunch with Jason. She felt like she was punched in the stomach and all the wind was knocked out of her. She had to mentally slap herself to try and stop all the questions in her head. Elizabeth knew that all the questions she had could wait expect for two. Two questions that couldn't wait and could very well make or break her relationship with Jason. She took a cleansing breath and looked into those deep blue eyes of Jason's. God how she loved looking into them. To think that there was a chance that she would never look at them again was making her ill. Here goes nothing she thought.

"Jason, I told you that no matter what you tell me I won't be going anywhere and that hasn't changed, but I have to tell you, this is scaring me a little." Elizabeth said.

"I know and I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you Elizabeth." Jason said.

"I know you don't and I can understand why you may have been hesitant in telling me about all this. It's like you said, it's complicated." Elizabeth said.

Jason didn't say anything he just nodded his head.

Elizabeth took a moment before she said what she was thinking. She knew Jason was not going to like it what she had to say because she certainly didn't. The only reason she was going through with her idea was because her faith in their relationship was strong and she knew it could overcome anything.

"Jason, I need you to listen to me. I think you should.."

Elizabeth was interrupted by the sound of her beeper going off. She looked down at it and saw that she needed to get back to the hospital asap.

"Damn it this thing has bad timing. I have to go. We have a trauma coming in and they need me to get back." Elizabeth said.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Jason asked.

"No, I have my car." Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth knew she had to go but she didn't want to leave with out making things clear for Jason. She grabbed Jason's face and kissed him with all she had not carrying who was around or looking at them.

Elizabeth broke away breathless with her lips as well as Jason red and swollen. She ran her fingers through his spikey blond hair enjoying the feel of it against her fingers. She wished to god she didn't have to go because the kiss only made her want to take Jason home and make love to him showing him that together they could they would survive anything the world threw at them.

"What was that for?" Jason asked.

"That was placing my mark on you. To let any and everyone know that you are mine. Mind, body, and soul." Elizabeth said.

"I love you. You know that? You are the most amazing women I have ever met." Jason said.

"I love you too Jason. Look, I have to go but, how about we talk about this when I get home tonight? And don't worry, we'll figure this out." Elizabeth said.

"Go on, you're going to be late. I got the bill." Jason said.

Elizabeth smiled kissed Jason on the cheek then hurried out of Kelly's towards her car.

Jason paid for their meals and left a hefty tip for Lulu. He normally would have waited for Lulu so he could say good bye but he wanted to leave and get some fresh air. Once outside Jason felt the weight of what he told Elizabeth bearing down on him. The thought of losing Elizabeth to whatever was going on with him was unbearable. He needed to talk to someone about what was going on. Someone who knew how it felt to be pulled into two different directions at once but before he could make the call his cell phone ran. He pulled out of cell phone and smiled when he saw the name.

"Hi Monica. I'm glad you called. Are you busy right now? Do you mind if I come and see you? I'll meet you at the house in about fifteen minutes. Thanks Monica, Bye." Jason hung up his cell phone then walked over to his bike then headed toward the Quartermain mansion.


	10. Chapter 10

Jason pulled up on his motorcycle in front the Quartermain mansion and was already feeling like the your not welcome sign was on. God did he hate coming here. He didn't mind so much when Lila was alive because she loved and accepted him no matter what but now that she was gone he didn't feel wanted there any more. Which was weird because Monica always made him feel welcome. She was his mother after all but Jason was never able to connect with her in that mother and son way. Monica was important to Jason but more like in a good friend kinda way. He knew that hurt Monica a lot because he **was **her son not some stranger off the street. Although she had known Jason his whole life, to him he had only met Monica a few years ago so she her status in his life was not as high as it should be. Jason had to give her credit. She never gave up on him coming back to her. He had pushed her to her limits plenty of times by telling her to leave him alone, constantly hurting her by rejecting her as his mother, telling her the son that she knew was dead, then finally shutting her out of his life completely by joining Sonny's organization. Through all the trials and tribulations he put her through she stayed the course and waited for Jason to come to her and when he did she accepted her son anyway she could get him and Jason didn't realize until this very moment how glad he was that she kept trying to reach him.

Jason went to the door and the rang the door bell. A few moments later he was greeted by the always pleasant Alice.

"Well hello there stranger. How are you?" Alice smiled.

"Hey Alice. I'm fine. I'm here to Monica is she here?" Jason said.

"She's waiting for you in the study. Have you been eating you look thin?" Alice said.

Jason laughed. He could be four hundred pounds and Alice would still say Jason looked thin.

"Yes, I've been eating." Jason said as he headed towards the study.

"Dr. Quartermain, Jason's here to see you." Alice said.

"Thank you Alice." Monica said.

"If either of you need anything please let me know. Especially you Jason. I still say you're too thin. Cook would be glad to fix you one of your favorites." Alice said.

"I'll keep that in mind Alice, thanks." Jason said.

"I'll keep my ears open." Alice said then left the study.

Monica was sitting on the couch when Jason walked in the study. She smiled when he walked through the study doors. As she got up to approach him she noticed right away that something was wrong with Jason. There was a look on his face that he used to make when he got upset about something but was trying to hide. Monica knew that look like the back of her hand but hadn't seen it since Jason's accident caused the personality change. It was a welcome and puzzling site.

"Hello Jason. I'm very glad to see you. Now what can I help you out with? You sounded like something was bothering you and I can tell from the look on your face that it's pretty upsetting."Monica said.

Monica went back towards the couch she was sitting on and sat down in the spot she was previously in. She saw Jason was still standing in the same spot. She shook her head then smiled a sad smile. "I won't bite you Jason. You can sit next to me." Monica said as she patted the seat next to her.

"I know. I just never feel comfortable here. It still feels like I don't belong here." Jason said as he took off his jacket then sat close to but not next to Monica on the couch.

"You will always have a place in my house Jason. You are always welcome here." Monica said.

"I know and thank you. Now how did you know somethings bothering me?" Jason asked.

Jason was very surprised that Monica picked up on that something was bothering him. He was usually very good at hiding his emotions from people. Even Elizabeth would have trouble picking up what kind of mood he was in sometimes.

"When you were little, you used to make this face when something got you upset. You would poke your lip out and then look like the weight of the world was on your tiny shoulders. When some asked you if your were ok you'd always say you were fine but then you would eventually tell me or your dad whatever was wrong. You have the same look on our face now. Like something is weighing you down. Minus the poked out lip of course. I haven't seen that look on your face in a long time." Monica said.

"There is something bother me that I hope you can help me out with." Jason said.

"Anything you need I'm here, you know that. So what is it?" Monica said.

Jason wasn't sure if he should open this can of worms with Monica. It may be more trouble than it was worth.

"Jason?" Monica asked.

Here goes nothing Jason thought.

"I need to know about my relationship with Keesha Ward." Jason said.

Monica was blown away by what she just heard that she had to hear it again.

"You need what?" Monica asked.

"I need to know about my relationship with Keesha Ward." Jason said again.

"Alice! Alice!" Monica yelled.

Alice came running towards the study at sound of her name.

"Yes ma'am? Are you alright Dr. Quartermain?" Alice asked out of breath.

"I need a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge and nuts sprinkled on top. Now." Monica.

"Oh boy. That bad huh?" Alice said.

"Yes." Monica said.

"Ok. I'll be right back. You just hold on." Alice said then hurried out the door.

Jason gave Monica a confused look.

"Was it something I said?" Jason asked.

"It was everything you said." Monica said.

"Look, I knew it was a loaded question when I asked it and that it might cause you some pain by answering but if what I said bothers you that much then we don't have to talk about it." Jason said.

Jason grabbed his jacket and was about to leave when Monica grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to his seat.

"Jason, it just caught me off guard and for a heavy topic like this I need something just as heavy and since alcohol right now is really out of the question then sugar is the next best thing for me. So just give Alice a moment then we can talk because I have some questions for you two." Monica said.

Jason nodded his head than sat back down and waited with Monica for Alice's return.

A minute later Alice returned with the bowl of ice cream and gave it to a grateful Monica who dug in to the bowl the moment it was placed in her hands.

"Anything else?" Alice asked.

"No Alice, tell cook thank you for making this so quickly and thank you as well for getting this to me in record time." Monica said.

"Well I know you don't usual ask for this unless you really need it so I got it to you quick." Alice said.

"I appreciate it. I'll call if I need anything else." Monica said.

"Ok." Alice said then headed back out the study.

Monica took one more spoonful of ice cream into her mouth before she looked back at Jason.

"Ok. Now that I have my fix. I will tell you what you need to know only if you answer my question first." Monica said.

"You want to know why I want to know right?" Jason asked.

"Yes." Monica said.

"It's complicated." Jason said.

"Then take it one step at a time." Monica said.

"You know Keesha is back in town right?" Jason asked.

"Yes, Edward has mentioned it." Monica said.

"Well seeing her again after all these years has really thrown me off." Jason said.

"How so?" Monica asked.

Monica looked at Jason and could see he was having a really hard time talking about this. She had never seen Jason so flustered. He kept trying to start a sentence then would stop like the words he wanted to say where on the tip of his tongue but wouldn't leave his mouth. She placed her hand on his and smiled. Jason turned towards Monica and smiled back at her. He seemed more calm and glad that she wasn't rushing the answers out of him.

"I'm feeling things. Things that I don' understand because they are from another person. Another life. Another me. I need to know why I'm feeling the way I feel when I see her or hear her name." Jason said.

"What are you feeling?" Monica asked.

"Everything. Love. Desire. Attraction. Sadness. Guilt. You name it, it's there. Since I saw her I can't stop thinking about her. She is my every thought and I can't understand why." Jason said.

"Well, Jason you two were very close and with the way things ended between you two I can see why there would be some unresolved feelings left behind." Monica said.

"Yeah but you and Tony both said that the Jason Quartermain part of me was pretty much gone. So, how can I be having feelings from that side of him?" Jason asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we should bring you in for some test." Monica said.

"I don't need test. I just need to know what their relationship was like so I can understand why these emotions are starting to resurface. What was so special about them?" Jason said.

Monica took another spoonful of ice cream before she started her way down memory lane.

"Well, it was love at first sight. Which is a very rare thing. At least it was for you. Yes, you dated girls before but when you met Keesha it was like magic for you. You never met a girl like her before." Monica said.

"How did we meet?" Jason asked.

You met at one of the Nurse's ball. You literally bumped into her. You shared a dance with her and started talking and the attraction grew from there." Monica said.

"Where we together a lot?" Jason asked.

"After a while yes. You see, AJ also liked Keesha very much so it was a slow start to your relationship. You were friends for a long time. And although you were quite shy Jason, you were very persistent and eventually you won her heart." Monica said.

"How were we together? I mean what made us special?" Jason asked.

"You two just clicked. You understood each other and never let things like color or money get in the way of your relationship. No matter how much each family disapproved of you two being together you both found ways around that." Monica said.

"Why did our family disapprove of us being together?" Jason asked.

"At the time there was bad blood between the families because it was believed that Edward had something to do with the death of Bradley Ward Justice's father. We later found out that Bradley was in fact Edward's son and he had nothing to with Bradley's death. Eventually both families put aside their differences and you two were able to date." Monica said.

Monica looked at her son and saw a puzzled look on his face.

"Jason, what's wrong? You have this look on your face like your still trying to figure something out." Monica said.

"I don't know. They don't sound so spectacular to me. They just sound like two regular teenagers." Jason said.

"There's more to it Jason. You and Keesha really cared for each other. It wasn't just puppy love. There was real love there. Not to mention you were each others first." Monica said.

"First what? Boyfriend and girlfriend?" Jason asked.

Monica was trying very hard not to laugh but couldn't hold back.

"No. No. You arraigned to take Keesha to Paris because she had never been there and you wanted to show her all the sights. I don't know all the details and still don't as a mother but what do you think happened? Two teenagers in the most romantic city in the world?" Monica asked.

A look of understanding came across Jason's face and a smile.

"They lost their virginity there." Jason said.

"Yes. When you both came back you were more committed than ever to each other. Things were going so well for you both." Monica said.

Jason saw Monica's face change and she started to look sad. He knew what was next.

"Then I had my accident right?" Jason said.

Monica nodded silently and took another spoonful of ice cream.

"I treated her so bad." Jason said.

"Yes, you did. But in your defense it was a confusing and angry time for you. Everyone including Keesha was trying to get you to be someone you didn't want to be or remember." Monica said.

"If the accident hadn't happened do you think they would still be together?" Jason asked.

"I would like to think so. They were very much in love and like I said it wasn't puppy love. I think they would have gotten married and been very happy together. I have a theory on why this is all happening." Monica said.

"I'm all ears." Jason said.

"The heart wants what it wants Jason." Monica said.

"What?" Jason said.

"What I mean by that is even if you can't remember Keesha, that part of you, the Jason Quartermain part of you still does. She is still very much apart of him and his heart. Seeing her awoke something inside of you that we all thought was dead and gone. I think that missing part of you wants to make peace with Keesha and heal some of the wounds that both of you have." Monica said.

"Yeah, well he's got lousy timing. I'm trying to make a life with Elizabeth and the boys and I need to be on my game with trying to find out who shot Ric. I don't have time to settle High School romances." Jason said.

"Well, you're going to have to make time Jason if you want to live your life. You have to make things right with Keesha... for all three of you."


	11. Chapter 11

_Previously on General Hospital_

_"The heart wants what it wants Jason." Monica said._

_"What?" Jason said._

_"What I mean by that is even if you can't remember Keesha, that part of you, the Jason Quartermainpart of you still does. She is still very much apart of him and his heart. Seeing her awoke something inside of you that we all thought was dead and gone. I think that missing part of you wants to make peace with Keesha and heal some of the wounds that both of you have." Monica said._

_"Yeah, well he's got lousy timing. I'm trying to make a life with Elizabeth and the boys and I need to be on my game with trying to find out who shot Ric. I don't have time to settle High School romances." Jason said._

_"Well, you're going to haveto make time Jason if you want to live your life. You have to make things right with Keesha... for all three of you."_

"Rodriguez what are you doing here? You work night shift and the sun is clearly out. So, why are you here and not sleeping?" Mac asked.

"Hey, my boss is coming. I'll catch up with you later and thanks for the info. Yup, later." Rodriguez said then hung up his phone meeting Mac half way.

"So, what's up? Why are you here?" Mac asked.

"Well, I was following up on that information you asked me to get on our new D.A. and Lucky said that he and Agent Ward would be reviewing the 911 tape of the shooting and the lobby surveillance video so, I thought I could lend a hand rather than waiting until night shift to find out what was going on." Rodriguez said.

"Admit it Cruz, you miss Lucky and that's why you're here." Mac joked.

Rodriguez smiled and laughed. "No, I miss Lucky but not that much. I'm actually enjoying being on nights."

"So you and Pembrooke getting along then?" Mac asked.

Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't call it getting along. I would call it tolerating each other. We both have things that we like and dislike about each other but we managed to find a common ground that keeps us from killing each other." Rodriguez said.

"And what would that be?" Mac asked.

"We both are movies buff's, especially westerns and comedies. He and I both like spagehtti westerns. Especially ones with Clint Eastwood and we both love History of the World part I. I didn't think Pembrooke would like History of the World since his sense of humor sucks but he can quote almost every line of the movie. That earned him brownie points in my book." Rodriguez said.

"Should Lucky be worried then?" Mac said.

"No sir. Lucky's job is safe." Rodriguez said.

"Now that that's cleared up. Tell me about our new DA. What did your friend say about him?" Mac said.

"My contact at NYPD said that DA Campbell is a stand up guy. They love him and they're sorry to see him leave even for a short time." Rodriguez said.

"Really what else?" Mac asked.

"My friend also told me that he is not one to make deals unless it benefits the case. He is all for "you do the crime, you do the time"." Rodriguez said.

"My big question is how is he going to be with us? Lansing was tough on crime too but he was no friend to us." Mac said.

"It seems like we won't have that problem. Campbell is totally cop friendly and makes a real effort to get to know the men and women of the department. He makes sure that everyone under him knows the names and ID's of all the cops they deal with and every year he throws a Christmas party and all the cops that he has worked with get invited." Rodriguez said.

"Sound like a nice guy. What else did your friend tell you?" Mac asked.

"That this DA is eager and ready to take down our local mob problem. Apparently he's pretty hard on any mob guy that comes before him. He tries to get the book thrown at them. I didn't know this until talking to my friend but this DA is the same one that took down Tony Musso and his crew." Rodriguez said.

"That was him? Wow. I heard about that case and how no one in the DA's office would touch it with a ten foot pole until he came along. Even the Feds wanted out because Musso's people found out two of their agents were deep inside the organization and killed them." Mac said

"Yup, and Campbell somehow after all that convinced the Feds to stay. He told them he would get the evidence they needed. Staked his rep on the fact that they would come through with what they needed and he got it. Musso and his boys were convicted on State and Federal charges for racketeering and a laundry list of other charges including the murder of those two Federal Officers. None of them will be getting out anytime soon. Most of them are serving sixty or more years without the possibility of parole. After that case he became a local celebrity with people calling him from around the country asking him to take on crime in their city. He turned them all down until Mayor Floyd's call. My friend said that once Mayor Floyd explained what happened to Lansing and our mob issues Campbell was on board. He had agreed to the job before the end of the phone call." Rodriguez said.

Mac nodded his head. He liked what he was hearing. This Campbell guy sounded like he was going to be a much bigger improvement over Lansing and the thorn they needed in Sonny and his organization's side.

"This guy almost sounds like Superman coming into save the day. He got any skeletons in his closet?" Mas asked.

Rodriguez shrugged. "Not as far as my contact knows. The guys is married to his work and is pretty straight laced. He likes to tell it like it is. Although my friend did say that he has seen the guy get angry once and that it wasn't pretty. I didn't get all the details but I was told to always stay on the guys good side because you pretty much gotta get a letter from the pope to get back into his good graces once you've pissed him off." Rodriguez said.

"Right. Thanks for the info Cruz, now go meet your partner and Ward in the Bat Cave so you can help review those tapes." Mac said.

Rodriguez couldn't help but laugh when Mac said the Bat Cave. He had only thought up the name nick name for the Command Center a few days ago and was surprised that it had filtered it's up way up the chain so fast.

"You know about the nickname?" Rodriguez asked.

Mac rolled his eyes at Rodriguez. "Of course I know about it. I **am** the Chief of Police and this is **my** building. Nothing much gets passed me. For example, I know you and Lucky put shaving cream all over the inside of Sgt Anderson's locker, then filled it up with glow in the dark condoms after he jerked you guys around on that burglary ring case you both were working on." Mac said.

Rodriguez turned red. " You knew about that?" he asked.

Mac smiled and slapped Rodriguez on the back of the head with the files he was holding. "I do now. Don't do it again." Mac said pointing a finger at Rodriguez.

"Yes, sir." Rodriguez said.

Mac then leaned closer to Rodriguez and whispered to him. "I'll deny it if you tell anyone this. I laughed my ass off when Sgt. Anderson told me what happened. Kudos to you and your partner because it couldn't have happened to nicer guy. Although I would have made the shaving cream explode out at him when he opened the locker." Mac said then without another word left towards his office leaving a stunned and very amused Rodriguez behind.

Inside the Command Center Keesha and Lucky were sorting through the surveillance tapes of the lobby and the garage. They knew that it was going to be an all day event watching these tapes because they were going hours of tapes going back at least two weeks. They figured that whoever shot Ric had to stake out the area more then once and of they did then they had to be caught on tape at least once, hopefully twice.

While Lucky and Keesha were watching the first set of tapes Cates was working on the 911 tape Lucky gave him. He practically snatched the tape of Keesha's hand as she walked through the door. Cated loved a challenge and Keesha knew it. She had phoned Cates after she and Lucky picked up the tape and asked him if he could work on it and warned him it might be difficult to get anything from it. Cates laughed and said if there was information to be found he would find it because nothing and no one could out fox him.

Keesha was glad that Cates was on her team. She had heard a lot of good things about the man and knew that he was a whiz with any thing electronic. When she found out that she was going to be assigned to this team and all the details of of the case she immediately requested Cates be on her team along with Rodgers. They were the best and that's what she needed.

A smile crept up on Keesha face as she watched Cates and Lucky interact with each other and it very amusing to her. Even though the two had only been together for a short time they had already established a bond. With Cates calling Lucky his Sensei or when they were in work mood Batman to his Robin.

Cates looked at Lucky like an older brother or mentor. Someone who could give the young man guidance and advice on everything and anything he could think of and Lucky would treat Cates like an annoying little brother who asked way too many questions. They would playfully bicker with each other and when things would start to get out of hand between them Keesha would play den mother telling them if they didn't stop she would be handing out swift discipline to them both. That always earned her a wicked grin from Lucky and a text message that would make a nun blush and a priest faint.

Rodriguez opened the door to the "Bat Cave" and no one moved or said a word when he walked in. Everyone was deep into what they were doing to notice him come in. It was only when the door clicked shut that they all looked up to see who had come in.

"Hey party people! Rodriguez is in the house! Where do you need me?" Rodriguez said as he strolled in.

"You lost? Your shift is still hours away." Keesha said.

Rodriguez looked at Lucky and shook his head then held his hand over his heart feigning pain. "You didn't tell her I was coming in? I'm hurt."

"Sorry man, things got busy and I didn't have a chance to tell her you were coming in. We haven't even had lunch yet that's how busy we've been trying to get all this evidence organized." Lucky said.

Keesha turned around from her computer screen and looked at Rodriguez. "Don't worry handsome. You're job as his partner is still safe. I'm just making a guest appearance. Now why don't you come on over here and give us a hand looking at these tapes."

"You here that Spencer? She called me handosme." Rodriguez said.

"Down boy. I don't think your her type. Now you gonna help or what?" Lucky said.

"I'm every women's type Spencer and I don't know about you guys but I work better on a full stomach. So how about I call Gino's pizzeria and we get a pizza with everything on it and one with extra cheese?" Rodriguez said

Keeshawas about to answer Rodriguez about what her typr was when she got a call on her work cell phone. She looked down and saw it was Alec.

"Bon Jour Alec! How's my favorite Frenchman? Wait...what?..hold on the reception on this phone sucks. I'll call you back when I get outside of the building." Keesha said.

"What's up with Alec?" Lucky asked.

"Not sure. I couldn't make out a word he was saying. I'm going to call back when I get outside. You guys get what you want on the pizza just order me a salad on the side for later. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." Keehsa said then walked out the room to go and call Alec.

Rodriguez picked up the phone as Keesha walked out and dialed the phone number to Gino's.

"Hey it's Detective Rodriguez at the PCPD. I need a deliver to the PD please. Two pizza's one with everything and extra cheese but hold the anchovies and the other with extra cheese and sausage. Oh and can you also include a side salad with that. Dressing? I have no idea what kind of dressing they would like and they're not here for me to ask." Rodriguez said. Just as he was about to tell the person on the phone to put in the house special he heard Lucky speak up.

"Hey Cruz! Make sure you get Caesar dressing for Keesha's salad." Lucky said.

Rodriguez almost dropped the phone out of his hand when Lucky knew what kind of salad dressing to get Keesha. "Yeah..sorry..I was just getting what kind of dressing from my partner. It's Caesar. Oh, can we get soda with that two? Hey what kinda soda's you guys want?"

"I'll take a Pepsi or a Coke." Lucky said.

"Cates?" Rodriguez asked.

"Grape." Cates.

"Grape? What are you five?" Rodriguez laughed.

"Grape soda is what fuels this massive brain of mine. Oh do they have cannolie's?" Cates asked.

"Yeah they do. I'll order you some. Hey Lucky, do you know what kind of soda Keesha likes?" Rodriguez said. He wanted to see if lightening would strike twice.

"Just get her the same as me. Although I know she prefers Pepsi." Lucky said not noticing Rodriguez's reaction to his answer.

"Do you have Pepsi or Coke? Ok. Then make it three Pepsi's and one Grape Soda. No, the grape soda is not for a kid. Right. What's the total? Cool. Thank you. See you in thirty minutes." Rodriguez said.

"What's the damage?" Lucky asked.

"It's thirty five dollars." Rodriguez said then walked over to where Lucky was sitting and sat in the seat next to him. He turned to his partner and shook his head.

Lucky turned and looked at his partner who was still shaking his head at him.

"And your shaking your head because?" Lucky asked.

"I thought we were boys man. How come you didn't tell me?" Rodriguez said.

"What are you talking about? Tell you what?" Lucky asked.

Rodriguez leaned in closer so only Lucky could hear him. "About you and Agent Ward? When did you get together with her?"

"Cates, take a walk." Lucky said.

"But I'm in the middle of something." Cates whined.

"Take a walk or I'll cut your sugar intake in half. You know what that means right?" Lucky said.

Cates eyes went wide with fear. "No more Ho-Ho's or Funny Bones?"

"Yup and I know what you're like when you don't get your daily fix." Lucky said.

"Don't worry Boy Wonder, you only need to disappear for a few minutes tops. Batman and I just have something we need to discuss." Rodriguez said.

"Fine, I'll leave. I need to stretch anyway." Cates said then walked towards the door. He was just about to leave the room when he turned back around towards Lucky and Rodriguez. "Oh and by the way, I'm not a Boy Wonder, I'm like the grown up version. I'm more like Night Wing thank you." Cates said then left the room.

After the door shut Rodriguez turned his attention back to his partner.

"Lucy, you got some esplaining to do." Rodriguez said.

"Gimme a break man. What are we in high school?" Lucky said.

"When it comes to stuff like this. Hell yes we are!"Rodriguez said.

"Cruz man, I haven't even told my brother yet about what's going on." Lucky said.

"That's because you brother is to prim and proper to hear juicy stuff like this. He would discourage you from such rash behavior while I on the other hand would be cheering your deviant activities on. Hell,I would hold up a sign. Go Lucky Go! 'Bout Time!" Rodriguez said.

Lucky laughed.

"Look man, your right. I should have told you." Lucky said.

"Damn right you should have told me. You know you can't keep stuff like this a secret from me." Rodriguez said.

"I wasn't trying to keep it from you it's just that...things are moving really fast between us." Lucky said.

"How fast?" Rodriguez asked.

"Warp speed fast. It's been a crazy week." Lucky said.

"So when did this craziness start?" Rodriguez asked.

"Her first night at the house. I mean we were having a great time, drinking wine, eating dinner, talking about what she had been doing since leaving Port Charles, reminiscing about the old days. Then after we had dessert we talk some more and I almost kiss her." Lucky said.

"You guys almost kissed? No way!" Rodriguez said.

"Well we stopped because the power went out because of the storm. I went to go get some matches for the candles and flashlights from the kitchen. When I came back in the room I found Keesha standing in front of the window in the living room and she was upset by the storm. She started talking about how she hated storms because they remind her of Justice and the day he died. She got upset and I told her somethings to make her feel better and that's when we kissed." Lucky said.

"How was it?" Rodriguez asked.

"Dude...it was awesome." Lucky said with a smile.

"Better then Elizabeth?" Rodriguez asked.

"Elizabeth was a good kisser and Keesha is too. Keesha's kiss is new and different. But a really, really, good different." Lucky said.

Rodriguez took a good look at his partners face and knew that there was more to this story.

"So what happened after the kiss?" Rodriguez asked.

"Nothing." Lucky said looking away from his partner.

Rodriguez laughed. "You may be able to lie to other people but I know you like the back of my hand man. Just spill it man. I'm gonna find out sooner or later. You two did it didn't you?"

"Did what?" Lucky asked.

"Alright man, I get it. You don't want to tell me. It's cool. You probably don't want to tell me because it's been so long since you had sex that you probably screamed her name. Oh Agent Ward!" Rodriguez laughed.

"Shut up man." Lucky laughed.

"Look, seriously Lucky, I'm only busting your chops. Whether you two did it or not makes no difference to me. I'm just really glad to see you finally happy. Just do me a favor and take it slow. It sounds like from what little you told me that she still has some issues she needs to deal with so just take it easy. Take it slow." Rodriguez said.

"What are you my mother now?" Lucky said.

"Nope. Just a friend who knows how far you have come and don't want to see you backslide. I mean if this thing between you and Keesha is real then taking it slow shouldn't matter right?" Rodriguez said.

"I hear you man. I do." Lucky said.

"Good." Rodriguez said. He was just about to turn around to start reviewing the tapes when Lucky stopped him.

"And just so you know. I didn't call her name. It was mutual." Lucky said.

"Awww man! I knew it! You two did it!" Rodriguez said.

"What gave it away? I mean how did you know that she and I are together?" Lucky asked.

"When I was ordering the pizza. You knew her likes and dislikes. Only someone who is really into the other person pays attention to those things." Rodriguez said.

"Ok. You got me there." Lucky said.

"You know what I'm gonna ask next. I don't need details just the jist." Rodriguez said

Lucky smiled widen.

"She'd kill me for telling you this but it's was great. Mind blowingly good. Cruz man, we've learned a lot about each other in a short amount of time. Talking to her and being with her is so natural it's like we've been together for years. It's really nice and I don't wanna blow it, but if you caught the change then I better be more careful. I don't want Mac catching wind of this. So keep this under your hat." Lucky said.

"C'mon. You insult me by saying such a thing. Of course I would never say anything to Mac and don't worry, I will make sure to not say anything to Keesha until you both give me the ok." Rodriguez said.

"You're a class act man. Don't let anyone tell you different." Lucky said.

"What are partners for man? Now let's get back to work looking for this mystery vehicle of yours." Rodriguez said.

"And let's not forget our mystery guest. He's a big key to this puzzle too." Lucky said.

"Why do you think the perps a guy? Could have easily been a woman that got the drop on Lansing and the guard." Rodriguez said.

"I don't think so. The wounds that were inflicted on Ric was done by someone with a lot rage and anger. They used a lot of force when they hit him. My gut is saying it's a guy. When Cates gets back he can tell us if the voice on the tape is male or female." Lucky said.

Just then Cateswalked in the room with Keesha who looked a little frazzled.

"Cates how far along are you with getting that 911 tape cleaned up?" Keesha said.

"I just started not to long ago." Cates said.

"Is it something Rodgers can finish up tonight?" Keesha asked.

"Yeah." Cates said.

"Good. Then give it to him. I have a new mission for you. Two actually. Think you can handle it?" Keesha said.

Lucky and Rodriguez felt lost trying to follow what Keesha was talking about. She was going 90mph and leaving them in the dust.

"Keesha what's going on? One minute you're talking to Alec and the next your coming in here talking a mile a minute. What's up?" Lucky asked.

"Sorry. What Alec just told me put my mind in overdrive." Keesha said.

"Well what did Alec say?" Rodriguez asked.

"The Ambassador that was killed. His wife was just murdered." Keesha said.

"What? How?" Lucky asked in disbelief.

"Car bomb. She was on her way to see Alec to talk to him. When she pulled up in front of the station the bomb went off. It killed three police officers and wounded several civilians that were walking by." Keesha said.

"Is Alec ok?" Rodriguez asked.

"Yeah, he has a broken arm, cracked ribs, and some cuts and bruises but he'll live. The blast sent him through a window and half way across the front lobby. He still was able to keep his sense of humor through the whole thing." Keesha said.

"What did he say?" Cates asked.

"That at least his face was not badly damage and that scar above his right eye gives him character. He also said that his wife better watch out because the ladies do love the scares. That right there told me was he was going to be alright." Keesha said. She really was glad that her good friend was not killed today by the blast.

"So why was the wife going to see Alec?" Lucky said.

"Alec was going through their financial records and found some discrepancies. When he brought them up to her she got defensive and told him that it was nothing and that it had to do with the family business. When Alec told her that he was going to probe further into the families dealings she told him not to because it would put her life in danger. When he told her that he could protect her and family she told him that he couldn't. That the people she was dealing with are dangerous and would kill her just for talking to him. After talking to her some more he managed to establishing a repore with her and she finally decided to come in and tell all she knew. She never made it out of her car. The eerie thing is she must have known what was going to happen to her so she e-mailed Alec some information. He sent it to me to look over." Keesha said.

"Why doesn't he have his own people looking at the e-mail?" Rodriguez said.

"Alec said he wasn't sure if he has a leak in his department so he thought it would be best to send to it someone he trusted and could get the information analyzed quickly." Keesha said.

"So what's the second thing you have Cates working on?" Lucky asked.

"The trap he set. It's been sprung." Keesha said.

"I knew it! Told you it would work." Cates said.

"What are you two talking about?" Lucky asked.

"Cates here convinced me that we needed to create a dummy file with limited information about the case and about the people working on it because of someone possible hacking in. At first I wasn't sure that it was necessary because of all the firewalls we have up against someone just hacking in but he was right. We do need it. I got word after talking to Alec that someone tripped the trap he set and when that happened Washington was notified." Keesha said.

"Do they have any idea who it is?" Lucky asked.

"Not yet."Keesha said.

"Don't worry." Cates said cracking his knuckles. "I'll get whoever it is. No one can out fox me for long."

"Also there's one more thing." Keesha looked in Lucky's direction.

"What's wrong?" Lucky asked. He noticed the look on Keesha's face and knew it couldn't be good.

"I'm not sure yet but... either myself or Doug may be flying out to Paris tonight to help take over the case since Alec is hurt. Robert and the hire ups at the WSB think that it would be wise to send someone who is familiar with the case to take it over. They are just trying to decide who is the better choice. Both Doug and I want to stay here because we think that what ever is going to happen that Port Charles is going to be at the center of it. Not to mention that the only surviving witness is here. I'm begining to think that whoever is doing will make an appearance soon. The only question is when." Keesha said.

Lucky felt the good mood he was in just vanish with every word Keesha said. He suddenly felt the need to hit something. Rodriguez looked over at his partner and knew that Lucky was upset. He was impressed that Lucky had somehow managed not to explode.

"So when will you know who's leaving and who's staying?" Rodriguez asked for his partner who still looked like he had been kicked in the stomach.

"By the end of the day. Doug is on his way in here now. He has been trying to coordinate efforts with the WSB and the other task force agencies letting them know what happened and that their possible witnesses could be potential targets. When he arrives he and I will be meeting with Commissioner Scorpio to let him in on the latest developments and to also make sure that security is increased for Mr. Lansing." Keesha said.

The whole room fell quiet after Keesha spoke. No one knew what to say. Lucky and Keesha were just looking at each other both wanting to say more to each other but they knew right now was not the time. So Rodriguez took it upon himself to say something.

"Well, I think I can speak for everyone in the room by saying we hope you get to stay because there's only so much Doug any of us can take." Rodriguez said.

That made Keesha smile. "Thanks Cruz. I hope I don't have to leave either. There are a lot of things that I started here that I would like to see through." Keesha said looking at Lucky. " Plus I think you guys eventually would kill poor Doug in his sleep."

"Would it really be that much of a loss if we took him out? I mean really." Cates said.

"Cates!" Keesha said trying not to laugh.

"He's got a point." Lucky said.

"Stop it Lucky. Don't encourage him. Look, no more gloom and doom ok? How about we try and get some work done. We still have footage to go through of the security cameras and you Mr. Cates have an e-mail to go through. " Keesha said.

"And catch who ever tripped my trap. I knew this was going to be a great assignment. " Cates said then turned back to his computer screen.

"Right then, I'll take the footage of the security camera's in the garage." Lucky said.

"And I'll take the footage of the Lobby area during the night of the shooting. Hopefully there will be something on it that will tell us who this guys is." Rodriguez said.

Keesha felt her phone vibrate letting her know she was getting a text message. She looked at her phone and saw it was from Doug. He was letting her know he was finally on his way and that there would be a lot for them to work on while the higher ups in Washington made the decision about who was going.

"Everything ok?" Lucky asked Keesha.

He saw her looking at her text message kinda hard and was hoping it wasn't one telling her that she was the one who need to leave.

"Yeah, it's just Doug telling me he was on his way." Keesha said.

"Oh, I thought it was something else." Lucky said.

Keesha didn't understand Lucky at first but then got his meaning.

"We won't know until later on. Don't worry, when I know so will you. I'll keep you in the loop." Keesha said with a smile.

"You better. Now I better get back to these tapes so we can catch this bastard." Lucky asked.

"Right." Keesha said.

"Wanna help? I could use an extra pair of eyes." Lucky asked.

"Sure. I'd love too." Keesha said.

**A/N:Sorry, I've been gone for so long. I will try to update when I can.**


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously on General Hospital_

_Well what did Alec say?" Rodriguez asked. _

_"The Ambassador that was killed. His wife was just murdered." Keesha said._

_"What? How?" Lucky asked in disbelief._

_"Car bomb. She was on her way to see Alec to talk to him. When she pulled up in front of the station the bomb went off. It killed three police officers and wounded several civilians that were walking by." Keesha said._

Ric's Hospital Room

"Awake again." Ric thought to himself.

Ric hadn't gotten a peaceful moments sleep since he opened his eyes. Nurses had been coming in every hour taking his vitals, blood,urine, and just about every other thing his body produced from him.

"If this damn tube wasn't down my throat I might tell these nurse where they could stick those needles." Ric said to himself.

He tried to get comfortable in his bed but found it really difficult. The slightest movement caused him intense pain. Ric knew he had injuries to his both his knees and his shoulder due to the amount of times his dressings had to be changed. What he didn't know is how he got those injuries.

Ric's memories were still fuzzy since coming out of his coma but he thought he heard one of the nurses say that he had been shot several times.

It was very plausible to him that his wounds could be from a gun shot. Manny did like his guns and it wouldn't surprise Ric if Manny had brought one on the train with him.

Ric still couldn't get his head around that word. Shot. That was a word that he never associated with himself. For others, like Sonny and his kind yes, but not him. He always figured that the invisible shield of being DA would always protect him from any unforeseen dangers. Now he knows all too well that being DA doesn't save you from harm. It just puts you right in the middle of it.

"At least my family is safe." Ric thought to himself.

His family. Those words made him smile. He couldn't wait to get back to them. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't around his family enough. Like it had been months since they were all together and happy.

Ric looked over to Alexis who was still sleeping. He watched as she fidgeted in her sleep. A small cry sounding like his name escaped her lips and he knew that she was having a nightmare. He wished that he were there with her snuggled up in her blanket, whispering sweetly in her ear to make the bad dreams go away. He missed the feel of Alexis' soft skin against his while they slept. Ric closed his eyes and tried to recall the fragrance of Alexis' hair. Lilac. That's it. She used to use a lilac shampoo that would drive him crazy.

Ric remembered many a morning rolling over toward Alexis in their king size bed and taking in the scent of her hair. There was just something about it he couldn't get enough of. Alexis never knew it but Ric would lie awake in bed during the early morning hours and just watch her sleep. He would always pull Alexis closer to him and bury his face in her hair letting the light scent of Lilac fill not only his senses but the very core of his being. When Alexis would wake up and find Ric holding her she would do something every un-Alexis like... she would giggle. And it wasn't just any ordinary giggle, it was full on teenage girl just sleep with her dream man giggle, which turned Ric and certain parts of his anatomy on, causing early mornings to turn into late afternoons of making love.

God did he love those mornings.

Ric closed his eyes and tried to remember one morning in particular where the late morning turned into a late day, that turned into a very long night, but another memory surfaced instead. It was a heated argument between he and Alexis. He couldn't place where they were but it didn't matter where they were, what mattered most right now was the angry words he was saying to Alexis.

"You pushed me to this! You knew what the out come of your actions would be and now you're pissed that it happened? The cancer must have gone to your brain if you think that you had no part in any of this Alexis. You did this!" Ric yelled.

Ric was watching like a third party in his own memory as he and Alexis fought like cats and dogs. Each one tossing verbal insults at the other that got worse with each passing second. He tried yelling at himself to stop saying the things he was saying but his other self couldn't hear him. Ric turned to Alexis who was crying. He ran over to her telling her not to listen to what he was saying and that he was wrong but she couldn't hear him either.

"I want a divorce!" Alexis yelled back while Ric was in front of her.

"Done. I'll see you in court counselor." Ric said.

"No, I don't. Alexis don't listen. I don't know what this is about but don't listen. Please don't listen!" Ric said.

Ric calls again fell on deaf ears as Alexis walked away from him as he yelled for her to come back. That was the last thing Ric heard before he woke up to an unknown noise that brought him out of that nightmare of a memory.

Ric turned his head as much as he could to try and find the source of the sound. He found it was coming from Alexis. She was crying in her sleep and asking for him not to go and that she was sorry. Ric felt his fingers start to hurt as they stretched out towards Alexis. The need to touch her, to soothe her, far out weighed the pain he was feeling due to the rest of his body trying to follow suit. The strain he was putting on himself was making his heart start to race. The alarm on his monitor started going off.

Alexis woke up from yet another nightmare to a very loud sound. It took her a second to shake off the dream and her sleep to notice that the alarm was coming from Ric's heart monitor and that his hand was reaching out to her. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran over to him. Alexis grabbed Ric's out stretched hand and looked him over to try and find what was wrong. A nurse came in a second later asking what happened.

As soon as Ric felt Alexis' touch his heat rate started to slow to a normal rhythm.

"Is he alright? I woke up to his monitors going off and him reaching for me." Alexis said.

The nurse checked Ric's vitals as well as the leads on him. She couldn't find anything wrong and all the leads were attached.

"I checked his vitals and he seems better now. I think his movement may have caused the problem." the nurse said then turned to Ric. "You can't move yet Mr. Lansing. No matter how much you need to get to this pretty lady, you're body's not ready for all this excitement. If you keep this up the doctors will sedate you and we don't want that do we?" the nurse said.

"No we don't. He'll be good." Alexis said.

"Wonderful. I can see why you're heart rate slowed down now Mr Lansing. You just needed her near you. The doctor will be in to check you later. In the mean time is there anything I can get you?"the nurse asked.

"No,I'm fine." Alexis said looking at Ric.

The nurse looked at Alexis and could see that she was looking very tired and was probably way past using her reserve energy. She remembered Dr.'s Quartermain and Scorpio telling her that Alexis was a cancer patient under going chemo at the hospital and that she was very stubborn when it came to her health and asking for help. Seeing this for herself she decided that it couldn't hurt to throw a suggestion out there.

"How about I bring a little something to eat anyway and you can eat it later if you like?" the nurse asked.

Ric saw how tired Alexis looked and knew that she was just being stubborn. He squeezed her hand as way of telling her know to take the nurse's offer.

"Ouch. I get the hint counselor. I would love something to eat. Thank you." Alexis said.

"Ok. I'll be back in a few minutes." the nurse said then left out the door.

Alexis felt a little woozy and grabbed the nearest chair to her never once letting go of Ric's hand. Not that she had a choice of letting go. He had a iron grip on her hand like she was his life line.

Once she a sat down Ric finally loosened his grip on her hand. With her free hand Alexis gently stroked the side of Ric's face. As her fingers glided down his face Ric leaned in to Alexis' touch but when her fingers reached the stubble on his face he pulled away making her laugh. She knew if Ric could he would be in the bathroom right now shaving the stubble off his face.

Ric was not a happy camper unless his face was clean shaven. His face had to be "smooth as a baby's bottom" or his day just wouldn't be right.

Alexis smiled and gently turned Ric's face back to her.

"I promise that as soon as this damn tube is removed I'll help you shave. I'm not a fan of the stubble either. How does that sound?" Alexis asked.

Ric slowly nodded his head.

"I thought you would like that." Alexis said with a smile.

Ric tapped Alexis' hand and she looked over to see that he was making a sign like he wanted to write. Something about his dream and Alexis' current state of health had been bothering him and he needed to know what was going on with them and her. He watched as Alexis reached over to the tray where the pad and pen where left and gave them to him.

Alexis watched as Ric began writing. She smiled at how hard he was concentrating, like he wanted to get it right the first time. Her smile then faded and was replaced by a look of concern when Ric started to grimace from the obvious pain this was causing him. Before she could voice her concerns Ric stopped writing. She noticed the look on his face when he was done. It looked like worry. Alexis dismissed the look and then turned the pad to her. When Alexis read what Ric wrote she started to feel sick.

"Ric, we shouldn't do this now. There is plenty of time for us to talk." Alexis said.

Ric let go of Alexis' hand and tapped the pad hard letting her know that he wanted an answer to his question.

"Don't do that. We're not in a court of law and this is not a cross examination. You can't badger the answers out of me." Alexis said.

Ric wrote again on the pad but this time Alexis wouldn't look at it. He tapped the pad again to try and get her attention.

Alexis got up from her seat and turned her back to Ric refusing to even acknowledge his questions. She hoped that he would maybe get the hint to just drop it because she wasn't really wasn't up to or in the mood for this discussion.

Ric knew the moment Alexis got up out of her chair that he struck a nerve and that there was some validity to his questions. He knew Alexis was not going to turn around to him so he did the only thing he could do.

Alexis stood there with her arms folded. She heard something hit the floor and looked down at her feet. She almost laughed when she saw the pad next to her foot.

"God, he can be such a pain in the ass sometimes." she thought to herself.

Alexis sighed heavily then grabbed the pad off the floor. After a couple of seconds she finally turned around then took her seat again near Ric's bed.

Ric watched for several long minutes as Alexis just stared at the pad. He could see that she was on the verge of tears and he instantly felt bad for having her to put her through this but he needed to know how things really were. He just couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding things from him.

Alexis looked at Ric through watery eyes. She didn't want to answer his questions because this was certainly not the time or the place to talk about this.

"Why did this have to happen now?" she thought.

" Ric, I know things are crazy right now and you want to understand what's going on but now...now is really not the right time. Please just trust me for now and know that when the time is right I will tell you everything you want to know. Just not know." Alexis said.

Ric felt Alexis' fingers again gentle glide down his face and although he wanted to take comfort in the feel of them and what she just told him he couldn't. He wouldn't. Not while there were questions he wanted answers to.

Ric pulled his faced away from Alexis' touch causing her to flinch. He turned back to her with anger filling his eyes. Ric made sure that his eyes were delivering the message his voice could not.

"TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW NOW!"

He could see that his message was received loud and clear by Alexis, but she had a message of her own to deliver to him through her eyes. It was a loud and resounding

"NO. I WON'T!"

The room grew silent from the quiet stare down between them. Neither one wanting to give in. It wasn't until there was a knock on the door that they broke eye contact.

"Hello again. I have that food for you. Where would you like me to put it?" the nurse asked.

"Right by my bed. Thank you." Alexis said.

"Ok." the nurse said

The nurse didn't know what was going on and she didn't wanna know. She could feel the tension in the room when she entered and it was thick. She only caught a glimpse of the stare down between Ric and Alexis and knew that something was wrong between them. Even though neither one said anything she knew that there was a lot of non-verbal communication going on and she wanted know part of it. She quickly placed the tray of food on the table next to Alexis' bed.

"If you need anything else let me know. I have another patient so I'll check on you both later." she said then quickly scurried out of the room trying not to notice that the stare down had begun again.

Alexis was starting to get angry with Ric. Here she was trying to shield him and protect him from things she knew he wasn't ready for and he was getting pissed at her about it. Typical Ric. When he wants something he goes after it with everything he's got and damn anyone that gets in his way.

Alexis sighed. She was tired of all this... literally. She needed to rest and the smell of the food behind her was calling her name. So, she decided to give Ric what he wanted but on her terms not his.

"Alright Ric, you win. You want answers? Fine. I'll give them to you... but... only one question... and I get to pick it." Alexis said.

Ric's eyes grew wide and Alexis could see he was not happy with those choices. She didn't care. She was tired, hungry,angry, and not in the mood for any of Ric's shit.

"Well what's it gonna be? The one question of my choosing or you lie there pissed off and staring at me all day? Nod your head if you agree to the one question or you can give me the finger letting me know to screw off. I suggest you take the deal because it's the best one your gonna get." Alexis said.

Damn that woman. He wasn't sure if he wanted to kill her or kiss her. Alexis was a good litigator. Real good. That's one of reasons why he fell in love with her. He should have known that if there was a way for her to turn this to her advantage she would. "God, I must be slipping. Rookie mistake. Should have seen that coming." Ric thought.

Ric looked up at his wife and saw the small smirk on her face. She had him and they both knew it. Ric thought pretty hard about his options. Although very limited he still had them. He could take a chance and hope she would answer the question he really was most curious about or he could just lie back giving her the evil eye the whole time she was there.

"No use in prolonging this." he thought.

Alexis waited quietly for Ric's decision. Luckily she didn't wait long. She was relieved when she saw him blink his eyes. Now the ball was in her court. Which of his two questions would she answer. Alexis reached for the pad again to look at her choices. Neither one was easy. In the end she chose the one that might be the quickest to explain and the least painful. She just would fudge some of the details to match Ric's current memory.

"Ok. Here we go. You wanted to know if I'm sick? The answer is yes. I am. I recently was diagnosed with stage two lung cancer. I found out a little after Molly was born that I had it. It was a huge surprise to everyone. Especially me. It took me a while to adjust to the news. I went through all the stages people talk about. Denial, anger,some more anger,then slow acceptance. I started chemo and that's why I look more tired that you may remember. It's been rough. Real rough. Some days are easier than others. And I haven't been the easiest person to live with lately because of the choices I have made about my treatment and our lives." Alexis sobbed out the last part. She took a deep breath to try and stop the tears from coming down. Once she was able to gain some kind of control she went on.

Ric listened to Alexis and was shocked by what she was saying. He had hoped that part of his dream wasn't true but it was. Alexis was sick ,it was cancer, and she was still fighting it. Now to make matters worse she had to not only take care of herself but her laid up husband as well. How she had the strength for all of this he didn't know. As she continued on he tried to remember anything of what she was telling but he couldn't. It was like his mind was fighting to keep that from him . But why? What was so bad that his mind would purposely try and keep that from him?

Another sob from Alexis brought him out of his inner rant and that's when he saw the tears she had been trying to hold back come down her face. Now he regretted what he had done when he saw the pain on her face. Pain caused by his actions. His incessant need to always be in the know.

The memories of his dream again floated back into his mind. The same look of pain that Alexis had on her face now was the same one she wore in the dream. The tears coming down her face broke Ric's heart in two.

"Dammit. This is not what I wanted. I'm hurting her again. Why do I keep doing this? This stops now. " Ric thought to himself.

Ric quickly grabbed the pad from a shocked Alexis' hands then reached for the pen that was still near his fingers. He began to write again. When he was done he passed the pad back to her.

Alexis took the pad and was almost afraid to look at it fearing that something she said may have just made things worse or that he remembered what happened during that time. She decided to take the chance and read what Ric wrote to her.

"I'm an idiot. I should have listened when you said that this could have waited. I wanted to know what was going on so badly that I didn't think about what it would be like for you to tell me. I'm a jerk, an ass, and I'm sorry. I will wait for when then time is right and I will trust in you to tell me everything I need to know. You are the strongest person I know and I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with me and the chemo. Please know that I'm so thankful that you are here by my side. Please stop crying baby. I love you. No more questions. Please go eat. You need to keep your strength up. You never know when I'm going to say or do something stupid again."

Alexis read the words on the paper and although they said to stop crying she couldn't stop. She was touched by his words and his concern for her.

Ric reached out to Alexis and she grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips. She kissed the back of his hand then rest his hand against her cheek. A tear left Ric's eye and Alexis wiped it away with her other hand.

"Oh Ric. What am I going to do with you? One minute your a jack ass and the next minute you're the kindest man I ever met. Your a complicated man you know that? I suppose that's one of things that things that first attracted me to you. You say I'm strong. I'm not as strong as you think I am... but I'm learning to be. I know I have to be because I'm not going to loose you. I'm going to fight my cancer and you are gonna fight to get better. Ok? And as far as being by your side...I couldn't think of a better place to be. I love you and for better or worse I'm here." Alexis said.

Alexis got up from her seat and gave Ric a long kiss on his forehead.

Ric felt Alexis' soft lips touch his skin and he again wished that the damn tube wasn't down his throat. He wanted to feel her lips on his and show her just how much he missed them.

"I think I'm going to take your advise and go eat. I'm starving now and tired. Never a good combo. Also, hospital food isn't very good cold. Come to think of it...it's not very good hot either." Alexis said.

Alexis saw Ric's eyes light up as he tried to smile at her joke. She then saw he looked a little tired as well.

"Why don't you rest while I eat? You look pretty worn out and I know that you haven't been getting a lot of rest with the nurses coming in and out of here. Go to sleep and don't worry I'll be here when you wake up. Now close your eyes and dream of those long morning we used to have ….and will have again." Alexis said.

Alexis kissed Ric's forehead one more time then watched as Ric closed his eyes. Her fingers then stoked Ric's head and the repeated motion made Ric relax and before they both knew it he was asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I just wanted to say a big thank you to both new and old readers of this story for hanging in there. I haven't updated in a long time and I'm so sorry for that. This story has been on the back burner for a while because I just couldn't get some of the elements from the last chapter right. I posted this extra chapter to make up for some lost time but it is a short one. Please let me know what you think of the story. Feed back is always great. Good or Bad. Anyway...Happy Reading!**

_Previously on General Hospital_

_Alexis watched as Ric began writing. She smiled at how hard he was concentrating, like he wanted to get it right the first time. Her smile then faded and was replaced by a look of concern when Ric started to grimace from the obvious pain this was causing him. Before she could voice her concerns Ric stopped writing. She noticed the look on his face when he was done. It looked like worry. Alexis dismissed the look and then turned the pad to her. When Alexis read what Ric wrote she started to feel sick._

_"Ric, we shouldn't do this now. There is plenty of time for us to talk." Alexis said._

_Ric let go of Alexis' hand and tapped the pad hard letting her know that he wanted an answer to his question._

_"Don't do that. We're not in a court of law and this is not a cross examination. You can't badger the answers out of me." Alexis said._

Inside the Command Center

"I think I found something." Lucky said.

Lucky had been looking at tapes for two hours and was starting to get tired. He felt his eyes were about to cross when he saw finally the vehicle that matched the one he saw leaving the garage the night Ric was shot.

"Whatcha got partner?" Rodriguez asked.

"Right there. That looks like the same car I saw leaving the garage when Ric was shot." Lucky said pointing to the screen.

"How do you know? Looks any other black car to me." Rodriguez asked.

"I just know. Something about this car is telling that this is the one we need to find. Call it a hunch." Lucky said.

"I'll go with that. Now we just need to find out all that we can about this car. Maybe one of our techno geeks can zoom in and get a good look at the license plate. Cates has got his plate full so I'll give to Rodgers tonight and see if he can enhance the tag. Hopefully we can get something off of it." Rodriguez said.

Lucky nodded his head then looked down at his watch. Keesha had left over two and half hours ago with Doug to talk to Mac and inform him about what happened in France with Alec and to decide who was going to take Alec's place on the French Task Force. He had been so involved in watching the security tapes that he didn't realize how long she was gone.

"They've been gone along time." Cates said not even looking up from his computer screen.

"Yeah, they have." Rodriguez said.

"I'm sure we'll find out something soon." Lucky said.

Rodriguez looked at his partner and knew that he was trying to not show how nervous he was.

He was about to call his partner out on his being as cool as a cucumber routine when he heard raised voices in the hallway.

"What the hell is that?" Rodriguez asked.

"I think we better go find out." Lucky said.

As both men started to get up and find out what was going on they heard the door buzz. They didn't have to stand too close to the door to hear what was being said.

"This is bull and you know it Keesha!" Doug said.

Keesha was getting really tired of Doug's tirade. He had no idea how close he was to having her fist in his mouth. Keesha knew better though. No matter how good it would make her feel, it wouldn't change the situation.

"Enough already Doug! I feel the same way as you. If you remember I agreed with you in the meeting. Your words and mine fell on deaf ears. We have our assignments and we'll just have to deal with it for now. Or at least until we can think of a better reason for the the powers that be to change their minds. So, please! Let's just get through this as civilly as possible." Keesha said.

"Fine. But I want you to know that as soon as this move is over I will be fighting for that change." Doug said.

"You do what you have to do Doug." Keesha said.

Keesha and Doug entered the room both looking upset. Lucky didn't have to be a mind reader to know that they were both pissed off about something. Whatever was said in that meeting couldn't have been good.

"Is everything ok?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah, it's fine." Keesha lied.

She tried to smile and not show how angry she was to Lucky but she could see from the concerned look on his face that he wasn't buying it. She quickly got straight to business to avoid telling Lucky the real reason why she and Doug were arguing.

"Now, we have a lot of work to do and not much time." Keesha said.

"What's up?" Rodriguez asked.

"Ric Lansing needs to be moved to a safe house as soon as possible." Keesha said.

"Because of the bombing?" Lucky asked.

"Yes. A decision was made to have Ric and his family moved for their own safety." Keesha said.

"His doctors will never go for it. He's still recovering from his injuries." Rodriguez said.

"It doesn't matter what his doctor's say at this point. He's going to be moved." Doug said.

Lucky couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew that Ric would eventually need to moved but not this early in his recovery.

"And Mac agreed to this?" Lucky asked.

"No he was..."Keesha was cut off by Doug.

"Over ruled. The WSB and FBI pulled rank and made the decision for the Commissioner." Doug finished.

"Ouch." Cates said.

"I thought we were supposed to be working together on this? Now you guys wanna take over?" Lucky said angrily.

"Hey! That's not fair! We have been working with you. And just so you know Doug and I disagreed with moving Lansing. But like Doug said, we were over ruled. We have to follow orders just like you do. I'm sure there are some orders you got that you didn't agree with but you followed them anyway and that's what we are doing now." Keesha said.

Rodriguez saw his partner was not scoring any points with his would be girlfriend right now so he decided to save him before he made things worse with her.

"Whoa! Everyone needs to calm down. We're all still on the same side here. No need to jump down each others throats. Now I know we all don't agree with moving Lansing but like the lady said, it's out of our hands. Let's all just shake hands and talk about how are we going to make this happen. " Rodriguez said.

"Sorry." Lucky said.

"It's ok. We're all just a little on edge." Keesha said.

"Now that we're all sorry can we just please move on to the matter at hand." Doug snapped.

"So what's the plan? Where exactly are we going to put Lansing and his family." Rodriguez asked.

"The plan is to move Lansing sometime around midnight to a safe house at an undisclosed location." Keesha said.

"And where's that?" Lucky asked.

"The location will be sent during transport." Doug said.

"What! That's crap! How are we supposed to make sure this whole thing goes smoothly if we don't know where hes going?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah, I mean I understand the need to keep this thing quiet but to not have us in the loop seems a bit stupid to me." Rodriguez said.

"If it helps any, Doug and I don't even know the final location. We are just as much in the dark as you guys are but it's for a good reason." Keesha said.

"And that is?" Lucky asked.

"No offense to you both, but the PCPD has had leaks in the past, and in this town there are eyes and ears everywhere. With that in mind, the higher ups thought it best to keep the location hidden until we get Lansing secure and on the road." Doug said.

"I'm gonna let the jab at our PD go and ask who will be going with Lansing instead?"Lucky asked.

"Relocation will be handled by Cruz and Doug." Keesha said.

"Glad I dodged that bullet. Better you than me partner." Lucky said patting him on the shoulder.

Rodriguez felt a headache coming at the mere thought of having to deal with both Ric and Alexis. One angry lawyer was bad enough, but two,two was going to be a huge pain in the ass. And given his past encounters with both, this was not going to be pretty.

"Lucky, I''ll give you a dollar if you go." Rodriguez said.

Lucky laughed.

"It's gonna take more than a dollar for me to go and on your salary you can't afford my fee. Sorry bro, this is all you." Lucky said.

"Oh joy." Rodriguez yawned.

"I think you better get some shut eye my friend. It's gonna be a long night for both of you. You're going to need all the rest you can get dealing with both Ric and Alexis."Lucky said.

"What about the rest of the surveillance tapes? There's still a lot to go through." Rodriguez said.

"Lucky and I can handle it. You and Doug get some sleep." Keehsa said.

"Who can sleep with all this going on?" Doug asked.

"There is nothing more you can do right now Doug. The most important thing right now is to just get some rest. If anything changes I'll let you know."Keesha said.

Doug sighed. He knew Keesha was right. There was nothing more he could do and if he and Rodriguez were going to take care of this major relocation then maybe sleep was indeed what the doctor ordered.

"You win. Sleep it is." Doug huffed out.

"You sure Lucky?" Rodriguez asked.

"Yeah get out of here." Lucky said.

"Alright. I'll see you guys later." Rodriguez said.

Doug was about to go out the door after Rodriguez when he turned back around.

"Keesha!" Doug said.

"Yes?" Keesha said.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about earlier. I was really insensitive about the whole you going.."

Keesha cut off Doug before he could finish his sentence and tip Lucky off to what happened in the meeting.

"Don't worry about. Water under the bridge. Good luck tonight." Keesha said.

Doug nodded then waived his good byes and left.

Lucky noticed how Keesha again cut Doug off before he could finish his thought. There was something she didn't want him to know and now he was beyond curious. He just didn't know how to bring it up.

"Done." Cates said.

"What's done?" Lucky asked.

"The 911 tape." Cates said.

"I thought I told you to leave it for Rodgers." Keesha said.

"Yes ma'am you did. There really wasn't much on it so I was able to clean up the audio faster than I thought. I also took the liberty of making you a CD of the call so you can listen to it any time you want." Cates said.

"Your the best Cates." Keesha said.

"I know." Cates joked.

"Hey Keesha, why don't we go check out the crime scene like you wanted. I wanna test your theory about evidence still being there." Lucky said.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Keesha said.

"And while you two are gone. I'm gonna find out who tried to access our files. They think their good but I'm better." Cates said.

"If anyone can find them you it's you Cates." Keesha said.

"Don't butter him up too much Keesha. His ego's already big enough. Hold down the fort and no grape soda while were gone. Ya hear me?" Lucky said.

"It's my fuel!" Cates whined.

"Fine. One can. No more." Lucky said sternly.

"Thank you. Now you two go. I'm going hunting." Cates said happily tapping on his computer keys.

"Happy hunting." Lucky said as they left.

As Keesha and Lucky walked towards his car in the parking lot he couldn't get the conversation Doug and Keesha were having out of his head. There was something she didn't want him to know. His detective instincts were were yelling at him to ask her what was going . His heart on the other hand was saying to hell with what's going on just let her know you're here for her.

When they got in the car Lucky was about to start the ignition then stopped. He looked around the parking lot to make sure no one was around. Once he saw the coast was clear he pulled a surprised Keesha over to him and gave her a searing hot kiss that caused her to moan in his mouth. They broke apart breathless. Lucky looked at Keesha's swollen lips and smiled at the desire for him in her eyes.

"Not that I'm complaining Lucky but what was that for?" Keesha asked.

"I know you have something to tell me but for some reason you're holding back. I kissed you to let you know that you don't have to hold back from me. I don't want you too. Too many times in my life people have kept things from me because they were afraid of how I would react or didn't trust me with the truth. Please know that whatever you have to tell me I will understand." Lucky said.

"Lucky..."was all Keesha could get out before she started crying.

"Keesha, please tell what is going on. What has got you so upset like this? Did something happen in the meeting? " Lucky asked.

"Yes." Keesha said.

"Is it that bad?"Lucky asked.

"It depends on how you look at." Keesha said.

"Keesha, please just tell me what the hell is going on!" Lucky snapped.

"I'm leaving Lucky." Keesha said.

"Leaving? You can't leave! We're in the middle of an investigation." Lucky said.

"I can leave. I have no choice. You're looking at the new head of the French Task Force." Keesh said.


End file.
